Tesla has comfortably beaten forecasts with record second-quarter vehicle deliveries, but its shares dropped sharply amid greater focus on its longer-term artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving ambitions.
The electric vehicle (EV) and solar energy group said it delivered 480,126 vehicles in the three months to 30 June, up almost 25% from the previous corresponding period and well ahead of the company-compiled analyst consensus of about 404,000 vehicles.
Tesla also produced 451,758 vehicles during the quarter and deployed 13.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy storage products.
"Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve these results," the company said in a press release.
Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) closed $31.85 (7.49%) lower at $393.45 on Thursday (Friday AEST), capitalising the company at US$1.23 trillion (A$1.77 trillion).
The strong result was led by a rebound in Europe, feeding hopes that in 2026 the EV maker can end its two-year streak of annual declines, according to Reuters.
Tesla's recovery in Europe was aided by a surge in fuel prices, government EV incentives, faster electrification of corporate fleets, and easing of the consumer backlash over CEO Elon Musk's far-right politics last year, it reported in this article.
Tesla is betting its future growth on the global expansion of its autonomous robo-taxis, as sales of its EVs face intense competition from Chinese and Western rivals, according to the Financial Times in this story.
"I think the huge growth in Europe is the key driver for Tesla right now," Morningstar senior equity analyst Seth Goldstein was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"U.S. sales still appear to be down, albeit less than the broader U.S. EV decline, while China is seeing small growth."
The consensus estimates were from brokers including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS, Barclays and Bank of America.
