Tesla share price fell more than 3% after the company reported second-quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday. Tesla beat Wall Street revenue estimates but missed on adjusted EPS, and the after-hours drop came as investors digested spending on Optimus and Robotaxi.
Pras Subramanian of Yahoo Finance covered the report as Tesla posted $28.24 billion in revenue against $26.32 billion estimated by consensus. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.33, below the $0.50 estimate, while adjusted EBITDA was $3.273 billion versus $4.0 billion expected.
Optimus Academy and Robotaxi rollout
Tesla said Optimus production remains on track for later this year. In the earnings release, the company said, "The initial Optimus builds will be used in our Optimus Academy for training data collection and further functionality development."
The same release said, "We expanded the unsupervised operation area in Austin and launched unsupervised rides in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa in July," and added, "Preparation for expansion of our Robotaxi service to additional U.S. metros continued, including testing, permitting and first responder training." Tesla said its Robotaxi rollout hit seven major metro areas.
Cash burn and capital spending
Tesla also said free cash flow burn was -$1.09 billion in the quarter, better than the -$3.64 billion estimate. Analysts expected full-year capital expenditures to reach $25.16 billion, a backdrop that keeps attention on whether Tesla can fund Optimus, AI, and Cybercab build-out while the core business is under pressure.
The company said Q2 deliveries reached 480,126, up 25% year over year, and energy storage deployments totaled 13.5 GWh. Tesla's new Model Y is now fully ramped, but Cox Automotive said Tesla's US sales are down 20% on the loss of the federal EV tax credit.
Europe and China support
Gene Munster of Deepwater Investment pointed to "the EV winter that started in March of 2024" as part of the backdrop, while Edison Yu of Deutsche Bank wrote that "International strength is doing the heavy lifting with Europe acting as the standout driver and China providing further support,".
Tesla's Q2 mix leaves investors with a split read: revenue and cash burn came in better than feared, but EPS missed and the stock moved lower anyway. The next read-through is whether Optimus production and Robotaxi expansion can keep advancing fast enough to offset pressure in the core auto business.
