Deliveries are up almost 37%, year over year, which is more encouraging. However, that wasn't fast enough to match production, which is up 44%. Far from being supply constrained, Tesla has now notched up four quarters in a row producing more vehicles than it delivered, almost 78,000 cumulatively. The resulting swollen inventory has reversed Tesla's favourable cash conversion cycle. This had flipped negative in early 2021, meaning Tesla was being financed partly by its suppliers. A big reason was Tesla getting much more efficient in minimising the inventory it carried. This quarter, that measure flipped back into positive territory, stoking a big working capital headwind and pushing free cash flow down to its lowest level in almost three years, just $441m (R8bn). The consensus forecast: $3.2bn (R58.3bn). As concerns built about Tesla's gross margin during the quarter, one counterargument was that its margins were so high, they could take the strain to protect growth.