Tesla stock slumps as profit fell 45% and lost market share
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported a 45% drop in net income for the second quarter of 2024, as its electric vehicle sales volumes fell 7%.
Gross profit was steady at $4.5 billion, whilst net income had fallen to $1.47 billion from $2.7 billion this time last year.
Whilst vehicle sales were down, second-quarter revenue of $25.5 billion was still 2% higher than last year.
“In Q2, we achieved record quarterly revenues despite a difficult operating environment,” it said.
EV production numbers were, meanwhile, down 14% at 411,000 vehicles for the quarter.
And, Tesla’s EV market share dropped below 50% for the first time ever.
At 52 cents, earnings per share was below the consensus Wall Street estimate of $0.62.
Tesla, in its accompanying ‘shareholder deck’, told investors that it has achieved “a sequential rebound in vehicle deliveries in Q2 as overall consumer sentiment improved”, and, it highlighted the introduction of new consumer financing options aimed at offsetting the impact of the sustained higher interest rates.
Strategically, the company is currently focussing its grow efforts toward artificial intelligence, self-driving ‘robotaxis’, and energy storage solutions.
Some investors had expected to hear more about the AI and robotaxi opportunities sooner than later, though a planned August investor day was recently put back until the fourth quarter.
“Overall, our focus remains on company-wide cost reduction, including reducing COGS per vehicle, growing our traditional hardware business and accelerating development of our AIenabled products and services,” the EV maker added.
“Though timing of Robotaxi deployment depends on technological advancement and regulatory approval, we are working vigorously on this opportunity given the outsized potential value.
“Concurrently, we are managing our product portfolio with a long-term orientation and focusing on growing sales, maximizing our installed base and generating sufficient cash flow to invest in future growth.”
In Tuesday's ‘afterhours’ dealing, Tesla stock was down $16.20 or 6.6% priced at $230.18.
