Gary Black, managing director at The Future Fund LLC, thinks that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) releasing delivery estimates preemptively is an atypical move on the Elon Musk-led EV giant's part.
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On Monday, the investor, sharing his thoughts in a post on X, said that it was "highly unusual" for the EV giant to share "quarterly consensus delivery estimates" via a press release. He shared that delivery consensus among analysts for the fourth quarter hovered around the 445k-mark, but the press release illustrated delivery estimates of around 423k.
"Obviously, someone at TSLA wanted the IR-derived consensus to be distributed as widely as possible," Black said. Out of the almost 423k deliveries Tesla predicts, over 388k comprise the Model Y and Model 3 sales, according to the data shared by the EV giant.
The investor also shared that the delivery estimates could also coincide with a major announcement by Tesla. "One has to align a potential 4Q delivery shortfall," Black said, with the expectation of the EV giant announcing the removal of "some or all safety monitors" from the Robotaxis in Austin.
It’s worth noting that Tesla has recently been conducting driverless testing operations of its Robotaxi in Austin, as confirmed by Musk. The EV maker’s Cybercab was also spotted in Austin, though it wasn’t immediately clear if the car was being driven by a human or operating autonomously.
The comments come as investor Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management Had predicted that the EV giant's deliveries would fall short of expectations in the fourth quarter. Munster predicted delivery figures to be around the 415k mark for Tesla, citing headwinds related to the end of the Federal EV Credit, among other reasons.
Meanwhile, the EV giant recorded consistent declines in sales performance, with November U.S. sales falling 23% and sales in Europe declining almost 12% year-on-year (YoY) last month. Meanwhile, Tesla's Chinese rival BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) recorded a 222% growth in sales in the region.
Tesla scores well on the Momentum metric, while offering satisfactory Quality and Growth, but poor Value. It also has a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term. For more such insights, sign up for Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings today!
Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro data, TSLA declined 3.27% to $459.64 at market close, further declining 0.51% to $457.28 during the after-hours session.
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