Jan 2 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) On Monday it reported record electric vehicle production and deliveries for the fourth quarter, but it missed Wall Street’s estimates, saddled by logistical problems, slowing demand, rising interest rates and recession fears.
The world’s most valuable automaker delivered 405,278 vehicles in the last three months of the year, compared to Wall Street’s forecast of 431,117, according to Refinitiv data.
The company had delivered 308,600 vehicles in the same period last year.
Tesla delivered 388,131 Model 3 compact sedans and Model Y sport utility vehicles (SUVs) compared to 17,147 Model X and Model S vehicles.
In total, Tesla built 439,701 cars in the fourth quarter.
As logistical bottlenecks persist — a problem that CEO Elon Musk said in October he was working on — Tesla’s fourth-quarter production deliveries fell by about 34,000 vehicles.
In the third quarter, the company’s deliveries were about 22,000 units short of production.
Fewer cars were delivered making it a rarity for the automaker, which in previous quarters had delivered more or similar numbers of cars produced.
Among other headwinds for Tesla, analysts cited weak demand in the world’s largest auto market in China, as well as stiff competition from legacy automakers such as Ford Motor Co. (FN)General Motors (GM.N) and startups like Rivian Automotive (Revno) and Lucid Group (LCID.O).
Tesla plans to run a reduced production schedule in January at its Shanghai factory, extending the reduced production it began this month into next year, according to a Reuters report, based on an internal schedule review.
Tesla stock, which did not trade on Monday due to the New Year holiday, is down 65% in 2022, its worst year since going public in 2010. Analysts and retail shareholders fear that demand problems stemming from an uncertain economy will weigh on The company’s goal is to grow deliveries by 50% annually.
“This was a disappointing delivery number and the bulls will not be happy,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
Tesla said in a separate statement that it plans to host an Investor Day on March 1 and livestream the event from its Gigafactory in Texas where it will discuss long-term plans for expansion and capital allocation.
The automaker also hinted at a “Generation 3” platform to show its investors at Investor Day. Musk said in October that Tesla was working on a “next-generation car” that would be cheaper and smaller than the Model 3 and Model Y cars.
(This story has been rewritten to remove the New York date line)
Additional reporting by Akash Sriram and Paranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Akanksha Khushi; Editing by Sriraj Kaluvella, Matthew Lewis, Howard Guler, and Barbara Lewis
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