Nice job @Tesla@elonmusk
Tesla Surprises Wall Street, Turns Around Sales Decline.
Tesla's global vehicle deliveries grew 7.4% in the third quarter compared with a year ago in a surprising reversal of the steep declines that have plagued the electric-vehicle maker this year.
The pickup in sales was aided in part by U.S. customers rushing to take advantage of the $7,500 federal EV credit, which expired at the end of September.
The company said its final quarterly tally of 497,099 Teslas delivered was a new record.
Wall Street expected a more modest improvement to what has been a challenging year for the EV maker. Tesla beat analysts' estimates of 456,000 deliveries, or a 1.5% decline, according to FactSet.
Tesla also reported a record high in its energy business, nearly doubling its energy storage deployment from the year before to 12.5 gigawatt hours.
Tesla shares were down slightly in midmorning trading Thursday after rising nearly 3% in premarket trade.
Tesla's stock is near an all-time high. It closed Wednesday at $459.46, a 21% increase since the start of the year. According to calculations by Forbes, Chief Executive Elon Musk this week became the first person ever worth $500 billion.
Tesla's third-quarter sales figures put it in line with other automakers. U.S. sales for both General Motors and Ford grew 8% in the third quarter after the automakers sold record numbers of EVs and hybrids, the companies said Wednesday.
Tesla reported a 9% jump in deliveries of the Model 3 and Model Y, while deliveries of other models dropped by 30%.
The results beat its last record sales from the fourth quarter of 2024, when it delivered 495,570 vehicles.
Going forward, it remains to be seen how much demand for EVs there will be when U.S. buyers don't have the benefit of a special tax break, which was eliminated this summer by President Trump's budget bill. Some automakers, including Ford, GM and Hyundai have said they will continue to incentivize EV buyers.
Rivian Automotive, the second-biggest EV-only automaker in the U.S., reported a 32% increase in third-quarter deliveries to 13,201 while narrowing its full-year guidance. Rivian indicated it expects to deliver about 10,000 EVs in the fourth quarter.
Tesla sales declined steeply in the first half of the year and the company is trying to pivot toward manufacturing autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. Revenue from car sales, which make up the majority of Tesla's business, also fell this year.
Analysts have attributed the decline in part to consumer backlash against the brand and Musk, whose role with the Trump administration to lead government spending cuts was polarizing.
Musk stepped down from his federal role at the end of May and has said he is back to spending time at Tesla ahead of a November meeting where shareholders will vote on a new $1 trillion pay package proposed by the board.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm said the record-setting package, which depends on Musk hitting operational and financial goals including an $8.5 trillion market cap, is necessary to keep Musk focused and engaged through the next stage of the company's growth.
Tesla has described the objective of its next phase of growth as "Sustainable Abundance." In its fourth master plan, released on Sept. 1, the company laid out a high-level vision in which artificial intelligence, robotics, and energy storage systems eliminate scarcity.