Tesla Attributes Q3 Model 3 Delivery Miss To 'Production Bottlenecks'

Tesla Inc TSLA’s third-quarter Model 3 deliveries fell far short of expectations with just 220 against previous guidance of 1,500 and Baird Equity’s worst-case estimates of 300.

Production figures also missed forecasts, as the automaker completed just 260 Model 3s due to “production bottlenecks” driven by longer-than-expected activation of manufacturing subsystems.

“It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain,” the press release read. “We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term.”

While Model 3 may have disappointed, Tesla reported a 17.7-percent sequential increase and 4.5-percent year-over-year increase in combined Model S and Model X deliveries, representing the segments’ best quarterly performances.

Not including orders en-route at the quarter’s close, the rate so far exceeded expectations that it put the firm on pace to beat first-half deliveries by several thousand more units than the initially estimated 47,077.

Contributing to a total of 26,150, the firm delivered 14,065 Model S and 11,865 Model X units against Baird’s respective estimates of 15,000 and 10,800.

Altogether, Tesla anticipates full-year deliveries around 100,000 for a 31-percent increase over 2016.

The stock fell about 1 percent to $337.93 in after-hours trading.