Tesla underwhelms with Q3 deliveries growth

Tesla shares were falling sharply on Wednesday despite the electric car giant reporting its first increase in quarterly deliveries, as investors took profits following a big rally in the shares in recent months.

The company, which is the world's largest automaker by market cap, said deliveries in the third quarter ended 30 September were 462,890, up 6.4% on the same period last year.

This comprised of 439,975 Model 3/Y deliveries and 22,915 of other models. Deliveries more or less met market forecasts, and followed a 6.5% annual slump in the first half.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said investors "wanted more" from the update: “The stock’s been on a booming run of late, so anything short of knockout results was always likely to draw more attention than usual."

However, Britzman added: "Taking a step back, deliveries returning to growth was the most important thing to come from today’s numbers, especially given the major push on promotions and financing terms to stimulate demand in a tricky auto market.

The figures come just a week before Tesla's eagerly awaited unveiling of its robo-taxi concept car in LA on 10 October – its first product reveal in two years. Third-quarter results will be announced two weeks later, on 23 October.

The stock was down 5.2% at $244.60 by 1037 in New York, but is still up more than 70% since hitting a 52-week low of around $142 in May.