Tesla Erases Its 50,000-Car EV Glut as Q3 Demand Outruns Production — Shares Dip Anyway

Tesla stock dropped 3.08 percent in trading on Thursday, October 22, closing above 374 dollars per share on NASDAQ, one day after chief executive Elon Musk addressed investors on the third-quarter earnings call. The dip came despite Musk touting a milestone: Tesla sold more electric vehicles than it produced for the second straight quarter, eliminating the 50,326-vehicle glut the company reported at the start of the year, when it produced 408,386 cars in the first quarter and sold 358,023.

Musk framed the third quarter as very strong and credited the whole Tesla team, saying demand is growing rapidly and exceeding production by a significant margin. He also pointed to the rollout of the two-seat Cybercab and the expansion of Robotaxi services. For the first nine months of 2026, Tesla reported sales of 1,324,681 electric cars against production of 1,324,535 in the same period, essentially selling everything it built.

Musk singled out full self-driving as the biggest driver of demand, saying there is really no competitor for FSD in any car a buyer can purchase today, and that the company is producing and delivering as many cars as it can while pushing for FSD approval in additional markets. The market reaction shows the tension in the stock: operational momentum on deliveries is real, but investors are still weighing it against valuation, competition and the long timeline for autonomy revenue.