Consumer Discretionary

Tesla’s first-quarter delivery report is coming. It better show year-over-year growth or investors will get grumpier than they already are. Looking at the current consensus calls from Wall Street, growth shouldn’t be a problem. However, there’s a rub. That consensus may be too optimistic. Heading into Tuesday’s report, Wall Street expects about 457,000 units, according to FactSet, up from 423,000 units delivered in the first quarter of 2023. That’s growth of about 8%, not nearly as brisk as the growth of past quarters, but growth nonetheless. The FactSet number is too high. That’s the problem. Not all analysts update numbers at the same rate. The company-compiled consensus number is about 443,000 units. That figure is an average of more than two dozen analysts from large brokerage firms that Tesla distributes each quarter. The Tesla-provided number implies slower growth, but it might be too high too. The most current handful of

Regarding Tesla, Deutsche Bank Forecasts Deliveries Of 414,000 In Q1 Vs Prior Forecast Of 427,000.

Tesla’s (TSLA) Q1 has been a “nightmare quarter” as deliveries have suffered greatly due to persistently soft demand in China at the start of the year, Wedbush said in a report emailed Thursday. Supply challenges, including factory downtimes and the fire at its Berlin factory have hampered the company, the analysts said. “There is no denying this has been a quarter to forget for Musk and Tesla,” Wedbush said, adding that “further issues this quarter were compounded by the Model 3 Highland upgrade issues in the US /Fremont and flattish sales in Europe.” China’s challenging market, compounded by rising electric vehicle competition, remains a major concern for the company, with delivery estimates down 3% to 4% year-over-year this quarter. The current negative narrative surrounding Tesla is warranted, given sluggish growth and squeezed margins, especially in China. Wedbush said. “For Musk this is a fork in the road time to get