Tesla Inc. shares closed down 12 percent yesterday. Just a day earlier, the company reported fourth-quarter vehicle production and deliveries that fell short of analysts’ expectations and missed internal growth targets.
▲ Tesla’s annual deliveries miss expectations
As of yesterday’s close, Tesla’s stock price fell by US$15.08 to close at US$108.10, a drop of 12.24%. The market value evaporated by about US$47.7 billion (about 329.9 billion yuan), leaving US$341.4 billion. Tesla’s market value once exceeded $1 trillion.
▲ Tesla’s stock price fell 12%
Tesla released data on Monday that the company produced a total of 439,701 vehicles in the fourth quarter and delivered 405,278 vehicles, which was less than analysts’ average estimate of 420,760 vehicles; a total of 1.37 million vehicles were produced for the year and 1.31 million vehicles were delivered. A 40% increase from 936,000 vehicles in 2021, failing to meet the target of a 50% increase in annual deliveries.
Tesla is facing serious demand problems, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a note Monday. “Tesla’s annual order run rate (including deep discounts) in the fourth quarter was only about 1 million vehicles, while the company aims to sell nearly 2 million vehicles in 2023. We expect demand challenges to persist in 2023.” Sacconaghi said. He noted that apart from the seven-seat version of the Model Y, no Tesla model is currently eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act rebate.
