Tesla reported a weak second quarter, posting its lowest profit margin in five years. But as expected, all eyes were on autonomous driving and robotics, and CEO Elon Musk downplayed the surprise business, saying it was progressing “among the many noise.”
Reuters and TechCrunch reported on the twenty third (local time) that Tesla’s second-quarter sales were $25.5 billion (about 31 trillion won), barely higher than the identical period last 12 months and market expectations.
Net income for the second quarter was $1.48 billion, down sharply from $2.7 billion a 12 months earlier. Particularly, the margin was 14.6%, the bottom in five years.
Tesla explained that this was attributable to cutting prices and increasing spending on AI projects to stimulate demand for electric vehicles.
However the poor performance was already expected, with electric vehicles not a spotlight. The corporate said it could produce recent cars, including cheaper models, in the primary half of 2025, but said the cost-cutting effects can be smaller than expected.
CEO Elon Musk predicts that electric vehicle sales will decline in 2024 in comparison with the previous 12 months, and as an alternative goals to rebound with the dearer Cybertruck and next-generation models.
Particularly, he said that the situation with such electric vehicles is progressing “within the noise,” and emphasized that Tesla’s long-term value depends upon autonomous driving and humanoid robots.
So, the robotaxi prototype unveiling date, which was postponed from August 8, was announced to October 10. He said, “By delaying the disclosing by just a few months, we were in a position to improve the robotaxi and add another things.” Nonetheless, he didn’t reveal what the “other things” were.
He also said he believes it could occur by the top of this 12 months, but added that it could occur as early as 2025, calling his prediction “overly optimistic.”
As for the humanoid ‘Optimus’, as announced the day prior to this, it was reported that a small variety of them shall be produced next 12 months and placed on the Tesla production line, after which mass-produced and sold starting in 2026.
“Tesla investors need results greater than ever before in the corporate’s history,” said Thomas Montero, senior analyst at Investing.com. “They need results quickly, each with humanoids and robotaxis.”
Meanwhile, Tesla shares fell 8% in after-hours trading.
Reporter Im Dae-jun ydj@aitimes.com
