SHARE OF THE WEEK: Tesla’s decline in deliveries puts pressure on

Tesla will begin another big U.S. earnings season next week after suffering its first drop in deliveries in more than a year.

The Texas-based electric carmaker run by Elon Musk this month said it delivered 435,059 vehicles in the third quarter, well below analysts’ forecasts of more than 456,000 and down from 466,140 in the previous three months.

During that time, 430,488 cars were produced – which was also below Wall Street forecasts.

Musk has already warned that numbers will be reduced after “summer shutdowns” needed at factories to upgrade products.

But the drop in supplies will put pressure on Musk as he prepares to release the company’s financial results on Wednesday.

Tesla has also been cutting prices since the start of the year as it tries to boost sales in an uncertain economy and fend off competition from rivals such as Ford and China’s BYD, which are increasingly eating into market share.

Investors will be looking for more certainty about the pricing strategy and how it will affect profit margins. That’s despite Tesla saying it’s still on track to deliver 1.8 million cars by 2023.

Sophie Lund-Yates of Hargreaves Lansdown said: “Tesla’s price cuts are causing confusion and uncertainty. Investors want to know if the weakening economic outlook and rationalizing consumer spending have the ability to lift volumes, which will reverse gains.