NEW YORK: Tesla’s results for the third quarter missed observers’ estimates on Wednesday, as the Elon Musk-run company was hit by price discounts and higher costs.
The Texas-based electric vehicle company said sales in the July to September period reached 23.35 billion dollars, lower than the 24.19 billion dollars forecasted by analysts polled by Factset.
The vehicle giant also saw net profits come in less than hoped for, at 66% per share instead of 73 cents forecasted.
Musk has undertaken multiple price slashes throughout 2023 on vehicles, telling investors in April that Tesla has taken the view that pushing for higher sales is the right choice against taking a bigger margin.
The move came as more EVs from legacy car-manufacturers like Ford and General Motors are hitting dealerships.
But those rivals have been punished by a major strike in the US, something that Tesla will not have to navigate.
The price cuts have made investors nervous and the company’s share price slid more than 7% in the last month and was down more than 3% from its last closing price in afterhours trade.
Tesla stock valuation
The Tesla stock valuation however still dwarfs other US car companies and it has more than doubled in 2023, comforting Elon Musk’s position as one of the world’s two richest people.
Also rattling nerves, the company reported earlier this month that its new auto deliveries dropped in the third quarter to 435,059 units because of downtimes at factories in Shanghai and Austin.
Production overall declined 10% from the second quarter to 430,488, according to the figures.
But the company on Wednesday confirmed that its full-year volume target of 1.8 million vehicles remained unchanged.
