Tesla Inc delivered 422,875 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter, setting a record as it slashed prices to lure consumers hit by rising interest rates and accelerating inflation. The results, released Sunday, were slightly above the median estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg, which said 421,164 vehicles had been shipped. Austin, Texas-based Tesla is leading the auto industry’s move into battery-powered vehicles. The company produced 440,808 vehicles in the quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of 432,513 vehicles. During the last earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla was aiming to produce 1.8 million to 2 million vehicles this year.
“Tesla’s deliveries were in line with consensus expectations, but relative to some whisper numbers, it was disappointing,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. “Their Deliveries were up 36% from a year ago, but Musk’s comments on the last earnings call were up 50%. They’re going to have to accelerate deliveries for the rest of the year.”
Tesla doesn’t break out sales by region, but the U.S. and China are its biggest markets. The vast majority of sales came from the Model 3 sedan and Y crossover.
Tesla slashed prices early in the year to boost demand after fourth-quarter deliveries disappointed investors.
“With everything that’s going on in the macro environment, these are really good numbers,” said Robert W. Baird’s Ben Kallo. Margins will be Q1. There is a lot of concern that price cuts will hurt margins.
The company builds the Model S, X, 3 and Y vehicles in Fremont, California. Its Shanghai factory makes the Model 3 and Y. Tesla also builds the Model Y at factories in Austin and Berlin.
First published date: April 3, 2023 at 08:16 AM CST
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