Tesla Inc.’s profitability shrank in the second quarter, showing the electric-vehicle maker’s industry-leading margins are being squeezed by months of price cuts.
The Elon Musk-led company on Wednesday reported gross margin of 18.2% in the quarter, below the 18.8% Wall Street had expected. Still, Tesla beat earnings and revenue expectations. Its profit, excluding some items, came to 91 cents a share, more than the 81 cents analysts estimated.
Tesla already said it delivered a record 466,140 cars in the period, spurred on by the price reductions that began earlier this year — a response to tighter household budgets and a wave of new EV competitors. Revenue rose 47% to $24.9 billion, Tesla said in a shareholder letter. Analysts had expected the company to generate $24.5 billion in sales.
That’s put the Austin-based carmaker’s profits in tight focus, especially as it pours money into the development of full self-driving software and its first new product in years, the Cybertruck. In addition to price cuts, Tesla also blamed its shrinking margins on the cost of ramping up output of new battery cells, the Cybertruck and other large projects.
“While we continue to execute on innovations to reduce the cost of manufacturing and operations, over time, we expect our hardware-related profits to be accompanied by an acceleration of AI, software and fleet-based profits,” it said in a statement.
Tesla rose 0.4% at 4:41 p.m. in New York after the results were announced. The stock has soared more than 135% this year.
The company didn’t break out its automotive margin, a closely watched gauge of Tesla’s profitability which was more than 30% at the start of last year.
Even after months of markdowns, Tesla is still making more cars than it’s selling. The company said global inventory is now 16 days of supply, up from 15 days last quarter and four days a year ago.
The company has has offered customers special perks — like free charging — to move vehicles off the lots.
Analysts have said new models, like the Cybertruck, could help Tesla maintain its extraordinary sales-growth rate. However, the long-awaited truck likely won’t be available in large volumes until next year. The first Cybertruck rolled off the line in Tesla’s Austin factory just recently, the company said over the weekend.
