Tesla Falls as Supply Chain Issues Catch Up With EV-Maker

Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded 0.5% lower in premarket Thursday as the EV-maker’s warning of supply chain constraints outweighed its bullish projections on deliveries.

The company said it won’t launch any new models this year, concentrating instead on increasing production of its existing models.

“We will not be introducing new vehicle models this year, it would not make any sense, because we’ll still be parts constrained,” CEO Elon Musk told an analyst call.

Tesla has usually been on top of the supply chain issues that have crippled most automakers for more than a year. But Musk’s comments suggested those issues have finally caught up with the world’s most valuable automaker.

The market has been waiting for some announcement on new launches as competition from the likes of Ford (NYSE:F), Volkswagen (DE:VOWG), Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) and Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV)hots up in U.S., Europe and China, the three biggest markets.

Musk said the company would launch its Cybertruck, Semi and Roadster next year.

The company said it is ramping up output at new factories in Austin and Berlin as well as the established units in Fremont and Shanghai. Full self-driving vehicles remains a priority for the company, Musk said, despite the company’s repeated failure to meet Musk’s publicly stated predictions.

The company aims to deliver 50% more vehicles in 2022 which means more than 1.4 million units this year, up from 936,222 units in 2021.

Tesla’s revenue for the quarter grew 65% to near $18 billion. Adjusted profit per share was $2.54, and like sales, beat estimates.