Tesla Falls Short of Forecasts in the Third Quarter

Electric vehicle maker Tesla saw its shares fall on Wednesday after the company reported that it delivered a record 97,000 vehicles in the third quarter.

The problem with this number was that it was short of what was expected. Wall Street was expecting 99,000 deliveries according to average estimates compiled by FactSet.

For the third quarter, Tesla revealed that it had delivered 79,600 Model 3 cars and 17,400 Model S and X vehicles.

The company’s CEO Elon Musk previously predicted Tesla would deliver between 360,000 and 400,000 vehicles this year. The only way this is feasible now is if Tesla is able to deliver 105,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter.

Analysts, according to FactSet, are expecting the company to deliver 106,000 units in the fourth quarter.

Tesla said it had hit “record net orders in Q3 and are entering Q4 with an increase in our order backlog.” It also said it continues to “focus on increasing production to meet that demand.”

Deliveries increased 16.2% compared with a year ago and 1.9% over the second quarter.

““When Elon Musk says they are aiming for 100,000 deliveries, you are hoping for 102,000. Not 97,000,” Gene Munster, a managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures, said to the Detroit News. “This is a credibility hit. This is a textbook example of Elon not being disciplined and having difficulty managing expectations.”

“If you look at the mix of S and X deliveries to Model 3s, profitability is likely to be a challenge,” Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush said.

“Just as they tend to move their sales to the end of each quarter, they also tend to go out in the fourth quarter with a bit of a bang, so I think they’ll get there,” Alan Baum, an independent auto analyst in Michigan, said on Bloomberg.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and have not been compensated for this article.