The company delivered 497,099 vehicles worldwide in the most recent quarter, 7.4% more than a year ago. Although the total far exceeds the roughly 439,600 average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg, Tesla’s shares slumped Thursday following a record monthly gain in market capitalization.
The divergence illustrates how investor sentiment has become increasingly detached from Tesla’s core electric vehicle business, focused instead on the potential profit to be reaped by its still-developing robotaxi, artificial intelligence and robotics ventures, which Musk has said will drive company’s future market value.
Despite weak EV sales in the first half of 2025, carmaker’s shares soared 33% in September, recouping early-year losses and adding $401.9 billion of market value. Tesla’s shares fell 3.6% as of 3:25 p.m. in New York.
“We see no change to our thesis and believe astute investors are looking beyond near-term delivery volatility to higher-margin” initiatives such as Tesla robotaxis and Optimus humanoid robots, Benchmark analyst Mickey Legg said in a note to clients.
“This sense of urgency created consumer reaction, and we’re seeing that in the data,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said on Bloomberg Television. “It’s going to be challenging going forward,” she added, predicting a slowdown in the fourth quarter.
The company also reported that it deployed 12.5 gigawatt hours of energy products during the quarter, up from 6.9 GWh a year ago. The company unveiled a next-generation energy-storage system during the quarter, along with a new product called Megablock that combines storage units with a transformer and switchgear.
Tesla has yet to offer many details about the more affordable version of the Model Y that could help buoy sales now that federal EV tax credits have ceased in the US. Executives have said that while initial production started in June, they elected to put off the launch until the fourth quarter and cautioned that output will ramp up slower than initially expected.
Wall Street is still expecting Tesla to log its second consecutive annual sales decline. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg project the company will deliver around 1.61 million vehicles in 2025, down from 1.79 million last year.
