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Tesla Inc. fell short of Wall Street profit estimates in the second quarter, extending a rocky start to the year marked by slower sales and mass firings across the company.

It was the fourth consecutive miss for the electric-vehicle maker, which on Tuesday reported adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share, short of the average analyst estimate of 60 cents a share. Tesla’s revenue increased to US$25.5 billion, more than the US$24.6 billion analysts were expecting.

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The Elon Musk-led company said its focus remains on cutting costs, and reiterated it sees a “notably lower” growth rate for 2024 while it’s between “growth waves.”

The EV maker’s shares fell 4.5 per cent to US$235.14 at 5:10 p.m. in New York, after regular trading hours. The stock was down about oner per cent this year at the close of trading Tuesday.

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Investors have bought into Musk’s promises that fully autonomous robotaxis and humanoid robots are around the corner. At one point in 2024, shares were down more than 40 per cent from the end of last year as a result of Tesla’s weaker vehicles sales.

The company didn’t provide a new date for the unveiling of its self-driving robotaxi, also known as the Cybercab. Initially, it scheduled an event to unveil a vehicle prototype on Aug. 8, but the company has delayed the reveal by at least two months after Musk ordered redesigns, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Tesla said Tuesday the robotaxi would rely on a new “unboxed” manufacturing method, which is more like building with Legos using modular assembly than a traditional production line.

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“Though timing of robotaxi deployment depends on technological advancement and regulatory approval, we are working vigorously on this opportunity given the outsized potential value,” Tesla said.

Tesla’s revenue beat was helped along by regulatory credits, which the company sells to other carmakers seeking to comply with emissions mandates. The company recorded US$890 million in the quarter, more than double the tally in the first three months of the year.

The EV maker already reported second-quarter sales that surpassed analyst expectations and sent the stock soaring. Stronger purchases were partly spurred by a series of price cuts that cut into the company’s profits. Its automotive gross margin, excluding regulatory credits — a closely watched metric by investors — fell to 14.6 per cent in the second quarter, compared with 16.4 per cent in the first quarter.

The company expects to make more cars in the current period than it did in the second quarter. It also said its new Cybertruck is on track to make a profit by the end of the year while plans for a lower-cost vehicle are moving ahead, with production expected to start in the first half of 2025.

“The whole story here is about what else is to come,” said Gene Munster, a managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. “There are a lot of questions about the unboxed manufacturing strategy and what that means for the robotaxi, which means we probably won’t see a robotaxi until 2026 or 2027.”

Bloomberg.com

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