Tesla on Tuesday published its first-quarter vehicle production and deliveries report for 2024 that showed deliveries fell 8.5% from the year-ago quarter and about 20% from the fourth quarter. Here are the key numbers:
Total deliveries Q1 2024: 386,810 Total production Q1 2024: 433,371
Vehicle production declined 1.7% year over year and 12.5% sequentially for Tesla.
Shares dropped about 6.5%.
Tesla doesn’t break out sales by model but reported that it produced 412,376 Model 3/Y cars and delivered 369,783. It produced 20,995 of its other models and delivered 17,027.
In the same period last year, the electric automaker reported 422,875 deliveries and production of 440,808 vehicles. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Tesla reported 484,507 deliveries and production of 494,989 vehicles.
Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.
Tesla’s deliveries fell below even the lowest analyst estimate.
According to a mean of 11 estimates compiled by FactSet, analysts were expecting deliveries of around 457,000 for the period ending March 31. Estimates ranged from a high of 511,000 deliveries to a low of 414,000 for the first quarter, with estimates updated in March ranging from 414,000 to 469,000 deliveries.
Independent auto industry researcher Troy Teslike, whose work is closely followed by Tesla fans, had expected deliveries to come in around 409,000.
Tesla’s head of investor relations Martin Viecha sent around a company-compiled consensus based on 30 analysts’ estimates over the weekend to select investors. The consensus, which was viewed by CNBC, said analysts were expecting a mean of 443,027 deliveries and a median of 431,125 deliveries for the quarter.
Tesla faced numerous challenges in the first quarter.
“Decline in volumes was partially due to the early phase of the production ramp of the updated Model 3 at our Fremont factory and factory shutdowns resulting from shipping diversions caused by the Red Sea conflict and an arson attack at Gigafactory Berlin,” Tesla said in a statement.
Houthi militia attacks on shippers in the Red Sea disrupted Tesla’s component supply and temporarily suspended production at its German factory outside of Berlin in January. In March, environmental activists set fire to infrastructure near that same factory, depriving Tesla of sufficient operation power and again causing a pause in production.
In China, Tesla faced an onslaught of competition from domestic EV makers, including BYD and newcomers such as the phone maker Xiaomi. After sluggish sales numbers for its China-made cars in January and February, Tesla reduced production of its Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai plant and slashed workers’ schedules to 5 days a week from 6 and a half days.
In the U.S., reviews were mixed for Tesla’s newest model — an angular pickup dubbed the Cybertruck — which the EV maker only began to sell in small numbers in December last year.
A series of discounts and incentives appeared to be less effective in driving sales volume than in the past for Tesla.
During the final days of the first quarter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mandated that all sales and service staff install and demo the newest version of the company’s premium driver assistance system for customers in North America before handing over their cars. The system is marketed as Full Self-Driving but doesn’t make Tesla cars autonomous. They require a human at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.
Shares of Tesla dropped 29% in the first quarter, the biggest decline since the end of 2022 and the third-steepest quarterly plunge since the company’s IPO in 2010.
The company scheduled an earnings call for April 23 to discuss quarterly results.
Mark Zuckerberg posing with UFC president Dana White during a UFC Fight Night event.
Jeff Bottari | Ufc | Getty Images
Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a longtime friend of President-elect Donald Trump, is joining the board of Facebook parent Meta two weeks before the new Trump administration begins.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had a particularly tense relationship with Trump during the president-elect’s first term in office, said in a Facebook post Monday that White has built the UFC “into one of the most valuable, fastest growing, and most popular sports enterprises in the world.”
“I’ve admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand,” Zuckerberg said in the post.
Zuckerberg has been practicing mixed martial arts in recent years and has attended several UFC events, underscoring his enthusiasm for the combat sport.
In 2023, Zuckerberg tore his ACL during a sparring session as part of training for a competitive MMA fight. That year, Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk traded verbal barbs and indicated that they were willing to fight each other in a match that White would help produce. But Zuckerberg later said the fight was off because Musk wasn’t “serious.”
White appeared with Trump onstage on election night in November after the victory was in hand.
“This is what happens when the machine comes after you,” White said, after being introduced by Trump. “What you’ve seen over the last several years, this is what it looks like. Couldn’t stop him, he keeps going forward, he doesn’t quit, he’s the most resilient hardworking man I’ve ever met in my life.”
Last month, Meta confirmed that the company had donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Zuckerberg was also one of several tech executives who visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, following the election.
Musk has had his own connections to UFC in the recent past. In 2021, Musk joined the board of Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group, which owns the UFC through TKO Group Holdings. He exited a year later.
Other new members of Meta’s board include John Elkann, the CEO of Italian holding company Exor, and former Microsoft head of corporate strategy Charlie Songhurst, Zuckerberg said.
Elkann is chairman of Exor’s automobile companies Stellantis and Ferrari, while Songhurst has spent the previous year on Meta’s advisory group helping the company with its artificial intelligence and technology strategies, Zuckerberg added.
“We have massive opportunities ahead in AI, wearables, and the future of social media, and our board will help us achieve our vision,” Zuckerberg said.
The photo illustration shows the Bitcoin cryptocurrency on November 12, 2024 in Shanghai, China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
The price of bitcoin leapt back above $100,000 to start the first full trading week of the new year.
The flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by about 4% at $102,234, according to Coin Metrics. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 index, gained more than 3%. Bitcoin and ether are coming off their best weeks since Dec. 6, while Solana had its best week since Nov. 22.
“Overall, we are in a bullish environment and traders appear to be risk-on as we head into the new year,” Mario Jurina, CEO at crypto swaps platform Jumper.Exchange. “With Trump’s election set to be certified today, and January often being a bullish month — six of the past 10 years saw positive price action — it’s no wonder markets are moving upward.”
Crypto stocks Coinbase and MicroStrategy advanced nearly 6% and 5%, respectively. MicroStrategy Monday morning reported it has purchased another 1,070 bitcoins for about $101 million, bringing its total bitcoin holdings to 447,470.
Activity is coming back into the crypto market after a post-election rally that was driven by promises of a more supportive regulatory environment. The optimism sent prices rocketing for weeks before cooling at the end of the year. The price of bitcoin is expected to roughly double under the new administration this year, with some price predictions, like Fundstrat’s Tom Lee’s, being as high as $250,000.
Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:
Ring security cameras are displayed on a shelf at a Target store on June 01, 2023 in Novato, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Amazon‘s Ring is partnering with fire safety product maker Kidde to launch a connected smoke alarm, the company announced Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The companies plan to launch Kidde smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that integrate Ring’s home security technology and can deliver alerts to the Ring mobile app. The Kidde Smart Smoke Alarm with Ring will cost $54.97, while the Kidde Smart Smoke and CO Alarm with Ring will cost $74.97. Both products will ship in April.
As part of the launch, Ring will also roll out a $5-per-month subscription service that gives users access to round-the-clock professional monitoring and emergency dispatchers.
Amazon acquired Ring in 2015 for a reported $1 billion. The home security company is primarily known for its video doorbell devices, which allow users to record activity in front of their homes, though it has expanded to include a portfolio of products ranging from camera-equipped floodlights to flying security camera drones.
Amazon doesn’t disclose unit sales for its Ring division, but Ring and rival home security company SimpliSafe comprise one-fifth of the U.S. market for professional monitoring systems, according to data from market research firm Parks Associates. Ring CEO Liz Hamren, who took the helm from founder Jamie Siminoff in March 2023, told Bloomberg last May that the company “recently” became profitable.
Users aren’t required to subscribe to Ring Home, the company’s program that enables video recording storage and other security features, in order to access the new smoke alarm service.