Why Tesla Stock Sank Today

The highly anticipated third-quarter delivery report from Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) was released this morning, and investors were underwhelmed. Tesla's electric vehicle (EV) deliveries over the first half of this year were 6.5% lower than in 2023. Investors were expecting to see growth resume in the third quarter.

The results did, in fact, show Tesla's EV deliveries grew year over year, but investors still knocked the stock down by as much as 5.5% Wednesday morning. As of 11:25 a.m. ET, Tesla shares were still trading lower by 3.6%. The negative reaction was partly due to Tesla stock having already surged by about 20% over the last month. But there was more to the story.

Tesla's facing headwinds from two directions

Today's release showed only the company's production and delivery results. But investors have also been nervous as growing competition and resulting price wars have cut the EV leader's profit margin this year. Investors will have to wait until Oct. 23 for Tesla's full third-quarter financial update.

But while deliveries did get a boost of more than 6% compared to last year, investors are noticing that competitors are also seeing sharp sales increases. Several Chinese EV makers reported record September deliveries yesterday, and General Motors just reported a nearly 60% year-over-year jump in its EV sales in the third quarter.

It looks like the competition is beginning to take meaningful market share from Tesla. And while the overall EV market might be resuming stronger growth, profits may not follow as pricing pressure continues.

That said, Tesla is one of the only global EV makers that actually does make profits on its products. One potential bit of good news from Tesla's report was in vehicle production. While deliveries grew by about 6%, production jumped by over 9%. If those vehicles already have buyers and just haven't been delivered yet, Tesla could give investors a promising outlook for the fourth quarter.

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Howard Smith has positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $25 calls on General Motors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.