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Tesla Stock Surge Runs Up Against a Potential Annual Sales Drop

  • EV maker marks down key models to pull off record quarter
  • Many analysts are nevertheless bracing for a 2024 decline

The carmaker added more than $733 billion in market capitalization from Election Day through mid-December, when its valuation peaked at $1.54 trillion.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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For all the exuberance about Tesla Inc. benefiting from Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Wall Street isn’t so sure the carmaker can avoid its first annual sales decline in over a decade.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are estimating the company may deliver around 510,400 vehicles in the final three months of the year. That would set a new quarterly record for Tesla, but the company would need to sell about 4,600 more cars to make good on its forecast for slight growth in 2024.