Tesla delivered a record number of cars in 2022 — just not as many as expected. The electric vehicle maker sold 1.31 million cars last year, which is up 40 percent from 2021 but below the company's own goal of 50 percent sales growth per year.
Here's Tesla's spin on coming up short again after a Q3 miss: "Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve a great 2022 in light of significant COVID and supply chain related challenges throughout the year."
The stock plunged 12 percent following the announcement, dragging down markets on the first trading day of 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial dropped more than 200 points in morning trading, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell around 1 and 1.4 percent respectively early in the day.
The miss comes as Tesla struggles to excite investors after a year without any new product announcements and rampant supply chain issues, as well as CEO Elon Musk's controversial purchase of Twitter, which some see as a distraction for the serial entrepreneur. In addition, the company briefly suspended production at its Shanghai plant last week and also announced plans to reduce its output in January.
The bigger picture is that Tesla deliveries fell short despite lowering its prices and offering discounts, suggesting that supply might now be outpacing demand.
"Demand overall is starting to crack a bit for Tesla and the company will need to adjust and cut prices more especially in China which remains the key to the growth story," wrote Dan Ives, analyst for Wedbush Securities, in a research note.
He added that the "Cinderella ride" is over for Tesla and Musk.
Supporting this narrative, the price of used Teslas was down 24 percent in December from a peak of $71,325 in June, 2022, according to data from car market CoPilot.
Musk in October previously told investors that Tesla will have an "epic" fourth quarter in 2022. The delivery data suggests this might not be the case, though Tesla's full earnings report isn't due out until later this month.
"With Tesla not reporting 4Q earnings/guidance until late January the debate will now rage on the Street around the 2023 Street outlook with deliveries likely in the 35%-40% range for 2023 as Musk & Co. need to lay out a more conservative number to hit in this jittery backdrop and rip the band-aid off guidance," wrote Ives.
