April 4, 2023: On Monday, Tesla shares decreased over 7% after the company’s quarterly deliveries report led investors to worry that cost slashes will be required to drive sales, eating into margins.

Over the weekend, Tesla reported initial-quarter deliveries of 422,875 E.V. and production of 440,808 cars. The record numbers for Tesla represented a 4% growth in deliveries from the last period and followed price slashes in the U.S., China and Europe.

Some of the price decreases in the U.S. were implemented in part enabling Tesla and its customers to take gains of tax credits available under the Inflation Reduction Act. But one problem is that increased competition will force the firm to keep lowering prices if it wants to attract customers as new E.V.s continue to hit the market.

“Many investors think that Tesla’s recent price cuts reflect structural cost gains that will allow it to pressure competitors and capture outsize volume and control the E.V. market,” Toni Sacconaghi stated, an analyst at Bernstein, in a note after the deliveries report.

Tesla’s initial-quarter deliveries decreased shy of Wall Street expectations, judging by a consensus mixed with FactSet. However, the numbers were in line with numbers joined by Tesla and sent by the company to some shareholders before the report was stated.

According to FactSet, analysts expected Tesla to report a stock of about 432,000 vehicles for the period of time.

Approximately from 410,000 to 451,000. An independent researcher widely known by Tesla fans and bulls, whose handle is @TroyTeslike on Twitter, had anticipated deliveries of nearly 427,000.

Tesla stated to shareholders that analysts were predicting deliveries of around 421,500 vehicles based on 25 analysts’ censuses tracked by the firm.

For 2023, Tesla said that it anticipates producing 1.8 million cars and is implying it intends deliveries near that amount. Company executives said they have a goal for 50% annual growth on average in production volume and sales more than a multi-year horizon.