Wall Street is worried about Tesla's Q1 deliveries as analysts slash estimates

Morgan Stanley, Wedbush Securities, and Deutsche Bank are all predicting a decline in the EV maker's first-quarter deliveries, with some analysts even preparing for its first year-on-year sales decline since 2020. Analysts' consensus puts the number of deliveries at 477,000 for Q1, according to UBS, which itself has cut its estimate to 432,000. Deutsche Bank's Emmanuel Rosner also trimmed his delivery forecast from 427,000 deliveries to 414,000. Wedbush analysts called the company's Q1 deliveries "a nightmare quarter for Tesla." In an interview with CNBC, Wedbush Securities managing director Daniel Ives said Tesla was in a "Code red situation." Tesla has been facing tough competition and slowing demand in China, and in January, it officially lost its title as the world's top seller of EVs to Chinese firm BYD. Since then, the two have been engaged in a price war to try to entice consumers. Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, which was made outside of normal working hours. Last week, Tesla began offering a free monthlong trial of its Full Self-Driving software.