Tesla shares fell 8% after the company reported fourth-quarter deliveries of 484,507 vehicles, below Wall Street's expectation of approximately 490,000 units. The miss marks a rare stumble for the EV leader.
The shortfall comes despite aggressive price cuts throughout the year, raising concerns about demand saturation in key markets. Competition from Chinese EV makers and legacy automakers' electric offerings has intensified.
CEO Elon Musk acknowledged "challenging conditions" but maintained the company's long-term production targets. Analysts are mixed, with bulls pointing to the upcoming Cybertruck ramp and Model 2, while bears focus on margin compression.