Tesla is starting out 2019 in the red following news it missed Wall Street’s delivery estimates. The company said in a letter to investors that it delivered 90,700 vehicles during the fourth quarter. That’s a bit shy of what analysts expected. This, in part, caused the company’s stock to open nearly 8 percent down on the day.
Tesla stock price is down 10 percent as of publication.
The company also announced before the bell that it is cutting $2,000 off the price of a Model S, Model X and Model 3. This is likely in response to the sunsetting of the $7,500 federal tax credit that helped offset the price of Tesla’s vehicles. Starting on January 1, that tax credit is now worth only $3,750.
In the last few days of 2018, Tesla made a large push to get buyers into vehicles to take advantage of the original tax credit. It even kept 44 Tesla showrooms open on New Year’s Eve until midnight to give buyers as much time as possible.
Tesla managed to increase the amount of vehicles it delivered during the last quarter, increasing the amount by 8 percent. In a letter to investors, the company said it delivered 13,500 Model S sedans, 14,050 Model X SUVs and 63,150 Model 3s. It was a record quarter for Tesla, but the numbers still fell short of what Wall Street expected, according to research firm, FactSet.
The company is facing headwinds as it attempts to scale production and fight off an increasing amount of competitors in its space.
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