It seems that the price of Tesla’s stock is having a difficult time recovering. Shares of Automaker fell 12% on Tuesday, after it reported fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers that fell short of analysts’ expectations and the company’s own goals. The company reported 405,278 total deliveries for the quarter and 1.31 million for the year, representing a record for the company and a 40% increase in deliveries compared to 2021.
However, Wall Street had been expecting Tesla to report around 427,000 deliveries for the fourth quarter, according to a consensus of analysts’ estimates compiled by FactSet. Some analysts believe that the delivery miss, coupled with aggressive discounting by Tesla in China and the US, indicates difficulties for the electric vehicle maker in the future, while others see it as a buying opportunity.
Toni Sacconaghi at Bernstein believes that Tesla is “facing a significant demand problem” in 2023 and that the company’s annual order run rate, including significant discounting, was only about one million units, while the target is to sell close to two million units in 2023. It is possible that the demand issues the company is facing may be partially due to concerns about an upcoming recession.
However, it is likely that many potential customers were waiting for the new electric vehicle tax credit to fully take effect, despite Tesla offering a substantial discount of $7500 for deliveries made by the end of 2022. A number of analysts have reduced their price target for the company and have raised doubts about whether Tesla will be able to meet its own guidance.
