Tesla lowers spending target due to investment falling short of expectations

Due to investment progress falling behind expectations last quarter, Tesla Inc. scaled back its spending plans, casting a shadow over Elon Musk's efforts to transform the electric vehicle manufacturer into an artificial intelligence and robotics company. Tesla said on Wednesday after releasing its financial results that capital expenditures this year will be around $20 billion. This marks a reversal from earlier this year when the company raised its spending target to more than $25 billion. Tesla's previous pace of spending had consistently fallen short of what was needed to achieve its goals, especially after spending only $4.73 billion in the third quarter, while analysts had expected an average of $7.95 billion.