Tesla shares rose 5% on Friday after the automaker reported third-quarter deliveries that beat analyst estimates. The company delivered 486,532 vehicles and produced 464,391, even as deliveries fell from a year earlier and the stock stayed down for 2026.
Tesla shares climbed 5% on Friday after the company reported third-quarter deliveries ahead of Wall Street's forecasts. The electric vehicle maker said it delivered 486,532 vehicles and produced 464,391 during the quarter.
Deliveries beat forecasts despite a yearly decline
Deliveries fell about 2% from 497,099 a year earlier, but climbed from the second quarter's 480,126. Analysts polled by StreetAccount had expected around 461,100 deliveries. Tesla's own company-compiled consensus, published Tuesday, pointed to 461,974 deliveries. The Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV together accounted for 98% of deliveries, the company said.
Morgan Stanley analysts had flagged the quarter as a tough comparison. Writing Wednesday, they noted last year's third quarter was Tesla's record delivery quarter, and that second-quarter deliveries "exceeded production by roughly 28K vehicles".
Competition and the lost tax credit pressure sales
Tesla faces surging competition from Chinese EV makers such as BYD and Xiaomi, which sell more affordable and innovative EVs. The company is also working to recover from consecutive annual sales declines, driven partly by a consumer backlash against Elon Musk and by the loss of a federal tax credit that the Inflation Reduction Act had made available through 2032 before President Donald Trump's spending bill ended it after Sept. 30, 2025.
Even so, Tesla's stock was down 21% this year as of Tuesday's close, underperforming all of its megacap tech peers.
Energy storage deployments keep growing
Tesla also said it deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage products during the quarter, up from 12.5 GWh a year earlier and 13.5 GWh last quarter. The Megapack and Megablock systems serve business and utility-scale projects, and SpaceX is among the large buyers of Tesla's backup batteries.
The company said it will report third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21 after the market close.
Source: US Top News and Analysis
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