By Andrew Moran
Shares of Tesla Motors slipped about 1 percent in after-hours trading despite second-quarter earnings largely matching Wall Street expectations.
The automaker reported adjusted earnings of $0.40 a share in the April—June period, matching market estimates.
Tesla confirmed total revenues of $22.5 billion, down 12 percent year over year. It also reported automotive revenues of $16.661 billion, a 16 percent year-over-year decline, marking the second consecutive quarterly drop amid lower vehicle deliveries.
Earlier this month, Tesla reported that its second-quarter deliveries totaled 384,122 vehicles, representing a 14 percent increase from the first quarter. However, it also represented a 14 percent decline from the previous year.
According to the automaker, the company produced 410,244 vehicles in the April—June period, up more than 13 percent from the first three months of 2025. It was slightly below the production levels recorded in the second quarter of last year.
Despite a reduction in free cash flow, Tesla reiterated a strong cash position.
“Despite a sustained uncertain macroeconomic environment resulting from shifting tariffs, unclear impacts from changes to fiscal policy and political sentiment, we continue to make high value investments in capital expenditure and R&D, while ensuring a strong balance sheet,” the company said in its quarterly earnings report.
In addition, Tesla highlighted its launch of the company’s robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and delivered the first customer vehicle fully autonomously.
The electrical vehicle (EV) maker says it is expanding its vehicle offering, including the first builds of a more affordable model in June, “with volume production planned for the second half of 2025.”
Shares of Tesla fell more than 1 percent following the company’s second-quarter earnings.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for the EV maker on Wall Street since the beginning of the year.
Entering 2025, Tesla shares were trading around $400, but tanked to about $222 amid the tariff-driven spring selloff. It has rebounded, but the stock is still down about 12 percent.
The stock currently has a consensus “Hold” rating and a 12-month price target of $298.97, representing a 10 percent downside.
Nancy Tengler, the CEO and CIO at Laffer Tengler, says the company is at an “inflection point,” grappling between electric vehicles and its three advancements.
“EVs matter to be sure but primarily to fund the future which includes Robotaxi, Optimus and AI,” Tengler said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.
‘Guardrails’
Musk, meanwhile, got into a bit of a disagreement with one prominent market analyst.
Dan Ives, managing director and global head of technology at Wedbush Securities, proposed that Tesla’s board of directors introduce “guardrails” for Musk’s political activities.
According to Ives, shareholders have expressed that “their patience is wearing thin” and are experiencing “exhaustion.”
“This soap opera is taking on a life of its own,” Ives said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.
“For Tesla shareholders, part of the frustration, part of the underperformance, is the best asset, biggest asset for Tesla is Musk. Musk is Tesla. Tesla is Musk, and they have never needed him more than today,” he continued.
His comments followed Musk’s announcement of a new political party called the America Party. The creation came in response to the Republican megabill—One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which caused a falling out between Musk and President Donald Trump.
Musk, who backed the president’s 2024 campaign, has been highly critical of the reconciliation package’s potential fiscal impact, calling it an “insane spending bill.”
Congress passed the legislation, and the president signed it on July 4.
Whether Musk follows through on a third-party endeavor remains to be seen, but Ives thinks it is time for “the board to rip the band-aid off” and curtail the billionaire entrepreneur’s political activities.
“I think it’s on the board to establish some control, because you cannot have Musk continue to go down this path at the time that’s so crucial,” he added.
Musk did not welcome Ives’s proposal, writing on X, “Shut up, Dan.”
Still, Ives and Wedbush reiterated their “Outperform” rating and project a $500 price target, which would be a 51 percent upside.
If anyone doubts Musk, they need to study Tesla’s history, according to Tengler.
“Musk has frequently teetered on the edge of disaster—a great abyss below and an impossible leap to safety ahead—and yet he repeatedly pulls it off,” she said.
“As Musk said, he is wired for war and he finds himself—or thrust himself—once again into an epic war for the future of TSLA.”
S&P 500 Hits Record
U.S. stocks rallied in the middle of the trading week.
The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.78 percent, or 49.33 points, to an all-time high of 6,358.95.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.61 percent, or 127.33 points, to 21,020.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a blue-chip index, soared 508 points, or 1.14 percent, to finish above 45,000.
Investors cheered the Trump administration’s achievement of new trade agreements, including with one of the nation’s largest trading partners: Japan. Wall Street is also monitoring a potential United States–European Union trade deal after the United States recently announced agreements with Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
