(Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc on Sunday missed estimates for first-quarter deliveries as a bleak financial outlook and rising competitors outweighed the electrical automaker’s efforts to prop up demand with worth cuts.

Tesla delivered 422,875 autos, a file excessive for the automaker however smaller than analyst expectations for 430,008 autos, in accordance with Refinitiv knowledge.

Traders have been watching Chief Govt Elon Musk’s gamble that slicing costs would stimulate gross sales, making up for the revenue hit from eroding margins.

Tesla deliveries grew 4% from the earlier quarter and have been 36% larger than a yr in the past.

“Sequential progress continues even within the first quarter,” Martin Viecha, Tesla’s head of investor relations mentioned in a tweet.

The carmaker produced extra vehicles than it delivered, manufacturing 440,808 autos for the primary three months of this yr.

Tesla delivered 6% extra of its mainstay Mannequin 3/Mannequin Y autos than the earlier quarter. However the variety of deliveries for its higher-priced Mannequin X/Mannequin S autos slumped by 38%.

In January, Tesla slashed costs globally by as a lot as 20%, unleashing a worth struggle after lacking Wall Avenue supply estimates for 2022.

Musk warned the prospect of recession and better rates of interest meant the carmaker might decrease costs to maintain progress on the expense of revenue. In January, Musk mentioned the value cuts had stoked demand.

Shares have soared greater than 68% this yr on hopes that Tesla would win the value struggle it began, though the inventory stays greater than 50% under its November 2021 peak.