• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

In an uncharacteristic move, Tesla published sales estimates indicating the outlook for its vehicle deliveries may be lower than many investors were expecting.

“The carmaker posted estimates showing analysts on average expect the company to deliver 422,850 cars in the fourth quarter, down 15% from a year earlier,”  according to Bloomberg. 

While Tesla’s investor relations team has compiled sales estimates and shared averages with select analysts and investors, the company hasn’t published the figures on its website. 

According to its head of investor relations, Travis Axelrod, the change was requested by investors, according to MarketWatch. 

“This is highly unusual,” Gary Black, co-founder of Future Fund Advisors, wrote on X. “Obviously, someone at TSLA wanted the IR-derived consensus to be distributed as widely as possible,” he added

This will mark Tesla’s second consecutive drop in annual vehicle sales, with the company compiling an average estimate for 1.6 million deliveries, down more than 8% from a year earlier.

“Sales were expected to slow in the December quarter after Tesla delivered more than 497,000 units in the prior three-month period, which beat even the most optimistic expectations,” according to MarketWatch. “It had benefited from consumers who pulled ahead their plans to buy an EV before federal tax credits expired at the end of September.”

Analyst Ben Kallo wrote in a note Tuesday that “despite a sluggish start to the year, TSLA has gained 21% YTD and 7% in the last month, outperforming the S&P 500 on both measures.

“He added that the firm wants to ‘own TSLA into the new year’ and continues to view the company as ‘a core holding,” according to investing.com.