Tesla delivered slightly fewer Model 3's than Wall Street expected last quarter
- Tesla on Wednesday released its delivery numbers for the final quarter of 2018.
- Model 3 deliveries were slightly less than expected by Wall Street analysts, while total deliveries increased to 90,700
- Shares of the company sank as much as 7% following the announcement. Follow Tesla's stock price here.
Tesla's delivered slightly fewer Model 3's in the final quarter of 2018 than Wall Street expected, the company said Wednesday.
Fourth-quarter Model 3 deliveries came in at 63,150 delivered, versus the expected 63,698 expected. Total deliveries for the quarter increased to 90,700, easily topping the company's previous record set in the previous quarter.
The company also announced a $2,000 price cut for all its vehicles in order to offset a tax credit previously available to Tesla buyers, which was reduced to $3,750 from $7,500 on January 1.
Shares of Tesla fell about 7% in early trading following the announcement.
Tesla's fourth-quarter numbers are "likely as good as it gets," Romit Shah, an analyst at Nomura Instinet, said in a note to clients. "We see this weakness as short term."
The company added that Most Model 3 sales were limited to the mid- and higher-priced versions of the sedan, which has still yet to sell at the promised base-model price of $35,000. It also said most sales were to new customers, as opposed to reservation holders who could be waiting for lower-priced options.
"There remain significant opportunities to continue to grow Model 3 sales by expanding to international markets, introducing lower-priced variants and offering leasing," Tesla said in a press release. "International deliveries in Europe and China will start in February 2019. Expansion of Model 3 sales to other markets, including with a right-hand drive variant, will occur later in 2019."
Those Chinese deliveries should be helped by the construction of Gigafactory 2 in China, where CEO Elon Musk said he would visit soon for the groundbreaking.
Last week, Tesla added two new board members - including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison - as part of its settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from Musk's failed bid to take the automaker private.
The company is expected to report fourth-quarter financials later this month.
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