Tesla’s quarterly vehicle deliveries rose for the first time this year, bringing the company some encouraging good news after a bumpy road that still disappointed investors.

Tesla shares, trading at around $248.50 late Wednesday morning, fell about 4% after the company reported its third-quarter delivery numbers, which showed a 6.4% increase from the year-ago quarter . Elon Musk’s electric car company delivered 462,890 vehicles in the past three months as price cuts and free charging offers for new owners boosted sales. The results were roughly in line with analysts’ expectations. .

The surge in deliveries could mark a turning point for a company that has struggled this year.

Tesla sales fell in early 2024 amid an increasingly competitive electric vehicle market in which newer companies like Rivian established themselves and offered buyers more model options at different price points. However, Musk’s company received a boost this quarter from a Chinese government incentive program that encouraged drivers to trade in older vehicles for electric models.

The deliveries are “good and a step in the right direction,” wrote Wedbush’s Dan Ives. Ives warned that the company’s shares would come under pressure as investors hoped for even better results.

“Overall, this is a significant improvement over the first half of the year and we believe getting into the 1.8 million range for the year is still the critical and important bugbear,” Ives said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.