The company, which is the world's largest automaker by market cap, said deliveries in the third quarter ended 30 September were 462,890, up 6.4% on the same period last year.

This comprised of 439,975 Model 3/Y deliveries and 22,915 of other models. Deliveries more or less met market forecasts, and followed a 6.5% annual slump in the first half.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said investors "wanted more" from the update: “The stock’s been on a booming run of late, so anything short of knockout results was always likely to draw more attention than usual."

However, Britzman added: "Taking a step back, deliveries returning to growth was the most important thing to come from today’s numbers, especially given the major push on promotions and financing terms to stimulate demand in a tricky auto market.

The figures come just a week before Tesla's eagerly awaited unveiling of its robo-taxi concept car in LA on 10 October – its first product reveal in two years. Third-quarter results will be announced two weeks later, on 23 October.

The stock was down 5.2% at $244.60 by 1037 in New York, but is still up more than 70% since hitting a 52-week low of around $142 in May.