Tesla Inc delivered 17.9 percent fewer electric vehicles in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter because of the COVID-19-related lockdowns in China, which impacted its manufacturing and supply chain.
Tesla said on Saturday that it delivered 254,695 vehicles from April to June, compared to 310,048 in the previous quarter, capping a nearly two-year run of record quarterly deliveries.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been pursuing the acquisition of Twitter Inc, his cornerstone, Tesla, has been dealing with production issues in China and modest output growth at new factories in Texas and Berlin.
The recent surge of Covid-19 cases in China led Tesla to briefly halt production at its Shanghai facility, affecting suppliers’ facilities in the country.
With lifting the Covid-19 restrictions, Tesla is increasing production at its Shanghai factory, which will help improve deliveries in the second half.
Gene Munster, the managing partner at Loup Ventures, is dubious about the future, predicting that the third quarter will be difficult for Tesla and other tech firms due to the looming recession.
Tesla has begun laying off hundreds of employees in the United States since Musk warned executives earlier this month that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and that the electric vehicle maker needs to slash approximately 10% of its workforce.
Nonetheless, Musk has stated that demand for Tesla vehicles stays strong.
Tesla shares have dropped 37% since early April, weighed down by Musk’s Twitter deal and the Chinese shutdown. On Thursday, Tesla shares fell 0.3 percent to $683.26.
Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has not tweeted in almost a week.
In a study, Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne stated that investors are growing tired of Elon’s rants on the Twitter saga, politics, and other matters.
“Many we speak to are questioning if we have reached ‘peak Elon,'” he said.