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Tesla posts quarterly increase in deliveries, but shares slump with investors wanting more

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Tesla posts quarterly increase in deliveries, but shares slump with investors wanting more

Tesla’s quarterly vehicle deliveries rose for the first time this year, giving the company some welcome good news after a bumpy road that nonetheless left investors underwhelmed.

Elon Musk’s electric car company delivered 462,890 vehicles in the third quarter, a 6.4% increase over the same period last year. Price cuts and offers of free charging for new owners helped drive sales, and the company was free of production issues that had dragged down delivery numbers last year.

Although the results were more or less in line with analysts’ expectations, investors were unimpressed. Tesla shares were trading at about $249 on Wednesday afternoon, down more than 3% for the day.

Shareholders and Tesla executives alike hope the increase in deliveries marks a turning point for a company that has struggled this year.

The third-quarter increase in deliveries was “good and a step in the right direction,” wrote Dan Ives of Wedbush. Ives cautioned that there would be pressure on the company’s stock because investors had been hoping for even better.

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“Overall, this is a clear improvement from the first half and we believe getting in the range of 1.8 million [vehicles delivered] for the year is still the key,” Ives said.

Tesla sales fell early in 2024 amid flagging demand and an increasingly competitive electric vehicle market, in which newer companies such as Rivian are giving buyers more options at varying price points. Traditional vehicle makers such as Hyundai and Ford have also released lines of electric options, crowding the market further.

Electric vehicle sales are down in California after years of growth, a trend that has hit Tesla particularly hard. The number of all-electric cars registered in the state dropped from 102,730 in the second quarter of 2023 to 101,443 over the same period in 2024, a 1.2% decrease. As recently as summer 2023, the growth rate of the number of all-electric cars in the state was 55%.

Consumer concerns over range, charging time and ability to complete long trips have contributed to faltering sales of electric vehicles even as Tesla has lowered its prices. Analysts estimated that Tesla’s average vehicle sales price was $42,500 in the third quarter this year, the lowest price in four years.

A large portion of Tesla’s sales come from its least expensive models, 3 and Y, indicating a consumer focus on price point. The company sold only 22,915 of its more expensive models in the third quarter, including Models X and S and the Cybertruck.

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Musk’s company got a boost this quarter, however, from a Chinese government incentive program that encouraged drivers to trade in older vehicles for electric models. Tesla has also been in the spotlight for Musk’s highly anticipated robotaxi, which is scheduled to be unveiled at an event next week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Q&A: For the Angels, Bally Sports is Plan A. What could Plan B be?

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Q&A: For the Angels, Bally Sports is Plan A. What could Plan B be?

Three days after the Angels concluded the worst season in franchise history, their fans faced a new and urgent concern: Would they be able to watch their team on television next season?

The answer appears to be yes, and probably in the same way they did this season. On Wednesday, however, the parent company of Bally Sports indicated that it was prepared to step away from broadcasting games of the Angels and all but one other team.

A federal bankruptcy court has the final say, so nothing is definitive for now, and the Angels and Major League Baseball declined to comment. Here are questions and answers about what we do know.

What is happening in court, and what is happening with the Angels?

Bally filed for bankruptcy 19 months ago. Its latest plan to get out of bankruptcy could involve walking away from contracts for all teams besides the Atlanta Braves. It does not preclude other teams from negotiating new contracts that would save Bally millions in rights fees.

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For the Angels, that is Plan A. The team is in discussion with Bally to restructure its current deal. The Angels would surrender some guaranteed revenue in order to avoid the financial uncertainty of a streaming-first future.

If the Angels do not reach a restructured deal with Bally, would I be able to watch the Angels on television next year?

Almost certainly. MLB could deliver the games as it now does for the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies: offering a streaming option while cutting deals with cable and satellite companies. As an example, the Padres’ monthly streaming price this year was $19.99.

Could the Angels explore other options?

They could. The Ducks, for instance, are offering a free streaming option as well as 65 free, over-the-air games on Channel 11 or Channel 13. The Ducks are one of several NBA and NHL teams sacrificing revenue — at least in the short term — in exchange for the ability to reach any fan in their local market.

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Where does MLB stand?

Unlike the NBA and NHL, MLB has urged its teams not to take a new Bally’s deal at a significant discount.

MLB long has hoped to launch a national streaming package, provided the league could secure streaming rights for a critical mass of its 30 teams.

The Bally strategy could push MLB in that direction. The plan unveiled Wednesday would free 11 teams from any ties to Bally.

With three other MLB teams recently dropped by another broadcast company, that could give the league the opportunity to market streaming rights to roughly half its teams at once.

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One party that might be interested in those rights: ESPN, for its ESPN+ service. ESPN reportedly is thinking about whether to renew or renegotiate its national MLB package — highlighted by Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and wild-card games — and streaming rights could be a lure to retain ESPN.

If the Angels and other teams return to Bally or go elsewhere, that could complicate the MLB plans, depending on the terms of those deals. Generally, regional sports networks offer streaming rights only to subscribers. Last season, five MLB teams — not including the Angels — had granted Bally the rights to stream their games to non-subscribers.

Would the Dodgers be part of a national streaming package?

Almost certainly not. The Dodgers’ record $8.35-billion contract with SportsNet LA extends through 2038.

The Dodgers and other large-market teams that own local cable channels — including the New York Yankees (YES), the Boston Red Sox (NESN) and Chicago Cubs (Marquee) — stand to make much more money on their own. It is unlikely that small-market clubs would agree to pay the billions it would take to buy out the big-bucks teams, even if those teams agreed to entertain a buyout offer.

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What is the Angels’ current television deal?

In 2011, what was then called Fox Sports had lost the Lakers to Time Warner Cable, and the Dodgers’ television rights were about to hit the market. Angels owner Arte Moreno brilliantly leveraged that situation, opting out of a Fox Sports contract worth $500 million and signing a new one worth $3 billion.

That contract, inherited by Bally, remains in effect at the moment. The Angels were owed $112 million in rights fees from Bally in 2023, according to Moreno. The team generated an estimated $407 million in total revenue that year, according to Sportico.

The uncertainty over what might happen to about 28% of the team’s revenue could dampen the amount Moreno might approve in player spending over the coming winter.

What has commissioner Rob Manfred said about teams that have lost their regional sports network?

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“We think that reach is a really important change,” Manfred said at the All-Star Game in July.

“San Diego is kind of the leader in the clubhouse there, approaching 40,000 subscribers, which is a really good number. Having said that, from a revenue perspective, it is not generating what the RSNs did. The RSNs were a great business. Lots of people paid for programming they didn’t necessarily want, and it’s hard to replicate that kind of revenue.”

In 2023, the league guaranteed that any team losing its local television deal would retain at least 80% of the revenue from that deal, with MLB making up any shortfall. Is that guarantee still in effect?

No.

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Your guide to the presidential candidates' views on tax policy

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Your guide to the presidential candidates' views on tax policy

Though sparse on details, the broad outlines of what Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump want to do on taxes are clear — and they are very different.

Trump’s tax proposals are tilted to benefit wealthy Americans and large corporations. Under Harris, the bulk of personal gains would come to those with lower and lower-middle incomes, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

“Harris has a more ‘coherent’ plan because she’s essentially got [President] Biden’s budget proposals, which are fairly scored, scrubbed and all that stuff,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the conservative-leaning American Action Forum and former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. “We know that agenda — enhance the child tax credit, raise the corporate rate, tax high-income people.”

Trump, he said, “has got a more tax cut orientation. He’s talked about a 15% corporate rate” — down from the current 21% — “and now he’s walking around and offering a handout at every rally on what he’s not going to tax next — tips, Social Security, overtime. It looks to me he’s just trying to match her on middle-class tax cuts.”

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'Rust' to premiere at Poland film festival, followed by panel about Halyna Hutchins

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'Rust' to premiere at Poland film festival, followed by panel about Halyna Hutchins

Three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of “Rust,” the movie is set to make its world premiere in Europe.

The organizers of Poland’s EnergaCamerimage international film festival announced Thursday that “Rust” will be screened at the event, followed by a panel discussion honoring Hutchins. EnergaCamerimage will take place Nov. 16 -23 in Torun.

Hutchins was working on the New Mexico set of “Rust” in October 2021 when a bullet from star and producer Alec Baldwin’s prop gun killed the 42-year-old Ukrainian cinematographer and wounded director Joel Souza.

Baldwin recently stood trial in New Mexico for involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchins’ death, but the case was dismissed amid a dispute over the special prosecutor’s handling of evidence. The actor had pleaded not guilty.

This week, a New Mexico judge denied a request to release Hannah Gutierrez from prison after the “Rust” armorer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Gutierrez has maintained that she loaded Baldwin’s gun with what she believed were inert “dummy” rounds, unaware that a live bullet was in the chamber.

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After the “Rust” screening, EnergaCamerimage will host a panel featuring Souza, as well as one of Hutchins’ mentors, Stephen Lighthill, and the cinematographer who finished the film, Bianca Cline.

The panelists are expected to discuss how the filmmakers completed the picture while maintaining Hutchins’ artistic vision. Other topics of conversation will include the role of women in cinematography and the importance of safety on set.

According to the festival’s announcement, Hutchins suggested bringing the film to EnergaCamerimage — a festival celebrating the art of cinematography — during the early stages of production on “Rust.”

“We knew that our event was important to her, and that she felt at home among cinematographers from all over the world, who have been gathering at Camerimage for over 30 years,” festival director Marek Zydowicz said in a statement.

“During the [2021] festival, we honoured Halyna’s memory with a moment of silence and a panel of cinematographers discussed safety on set. Now, once again, together with cinematographers and film enthusiasts, we will have this special opportunity to remember her.”

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