Tesla Stock Drops 4% After Q2 Profit Miss
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- Tesla stock dropped 4.25% after hours as Q2 revenue beat estimates at $28.24 billion vs. $26.31 billion expected, but adjusted EPS missed badly at 33 cents versus 50 cents expected.
- Musk declined to address SpaceX-Tesla merger speculation on the call but highlighted synergies, including plans to integrate Starlink into Tesla robotaxis to maintain cellular coverage.
- Tesla signaled an aggressive capex push, with Musk describing it as the company's "largest and most exciting period of investment" and comparing its manufacturing build-out to Henry Ford's Model T era.
- Tesla reported 380,000 miles of unsupervised robotaxi rides with "zero notable incidents," while Musk tempered Optimus expectations, saying production will have a "flat and long start" to its S curve.
- Tesla plans to upgrade nearly all camera-equipped vehicles with next-generation AI hardware, with the CFO noting capex is flowing toward factory scaling, a semiconductor fab, and US solar manufacturing.
- The Q2 report was Tesla's first earnings since SpaceX went public last month, and Musk closed the call by touting solar power to fuel AI data centers and predicting rising Megapack demand.
Why it matters: Tesla's revenue beat couldn't offset the profit miss (33¢ vs 50¢ EPS), and Musk's 'largest and most exciting period of investment' framing signals Tesla will sacrifice near-term margins for AI, robotics, and factory build-out. With SpaceX now public and Musk openly floating Starlink-robotaxi integration, shareholders are weighing whether the cross-company synergies justify the capex burn.
