Tesla Stock Rises as Company Reports Third-Quarter Deliveries According to Analysts’ Best Estimates

Tesla (TSLA) reported third-quarter delivery numbers that beat analyst estimates, just as the electric vehicle maker delayed the launch of its Roadster but began volume production of the Tesla Semi.

Tesla reported third-quarter deliveries of 486,532 compared to the Bloomberg consensus estimate of 463,000, down sequentially from the second quarter and a 2% decline from units delivered a year ago. The company also reported producing 464,391 vehicles in the third quarter.

Shares were up about 4% in early trading Friday.

Tesla also said it deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage products during the quarter.

“Tesla’s Megapack has been integrated into Nvdia’s DSX Ready program, qualifying it as a key infrastructure component for AI data centers,” William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer wrote in a note to clients shortly after the figures were released. “We will continue to monitor root causes, but expect growth in GWh deployments to accelerate in the second half of the year.”

Last year’s third-quarter report was important because it included the latest U.S. electric vehicle sales in which the $7,500 federal tax credit was at stake. The drop could have been bigger, but Tesla appears to have won more market share in the field of electric vehicles in the United StatesEuropean sales have improved and Tesla’s Giga Shanghai is exporting more vehicles to other markets.

“Overall EU registrations were down approximately 9% year-on-year, with strength in France and Germany offset by declines in the UK, Italy and Spain,” JPMorgan’s Rajat Gupta wrote in a note to clients. “In China, July-August wholesale volumes, including exports, increased +19% YoY, including exports up +92% YoY, while domestic retail sales are expected to have declined -21% YoY.”

JPMorgan lowered its third-quarter estimate to 482,000 units, citing weakness in China and the United States.

Perhaps America’s weakness could have been worse. Positive feedback and reviews about Tesla’s supervised fully autonomous driving (FSD) system may have helped sales. Tesla said at the end of the second quarter, FSD subscriptions reached 1.48 million, up 56% from a year ago. Most FSD subscribers are likely based in the United States.

Tesla’s third-quarter report comes after the company delayed its Roadster revealinitially scheduled for October 1st.

“We are closely monitoring the weather with local meteorologists, but given the extreme conditions forecast and because this event can only take place outdoors, we have made the difficult decision to postpone it,” the company said in a statement. Messageadding that the new date would be October 15.

A two-week delay due to weather conditions caught many by surprise. The information reported several weeks ago that the reveal event could include a demonstration of a limited edition version equipped with cold gas thrusters developed in collaboration with SpaceX (SPCX), potentially allowing some form of hovering or flying capability. This would likely require an outdoor event, as Tesla has indicated.