On the early morning of July 24th, Tesla disclosed its second quarter financial report, with total revenue exceeding market expectations, but earnings per share and net profit significantly decreased year-on-year. Among them, the company's net profit (calculated according to US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)) decreased by 45% year-on-year. As a result, Tesla's US stock price fell nearly 8% after market hours.
On the same day, Tesla CEO Mask disclosed more information about Robotaxis (driverless taxis), FSD (full auto drive system), humanoid robots and other market concerns on the earnings call. Among them, Tesla FSD is expected to be approved in Europe and China before the end of the year.
Some analysts believe that Tesla's investment theme has shifted from growth driven by its automotive business to growth driven by AI businesses such as autonomous driving and Robotaxi. Meanwhile, due to fierce market competition, Tesla's delivery volume has declined year-on-year for two consecutive quarters, putting pressure on its performance.
Net profit decreased by 45% year-on-year
Tesla achieved a total revenue of $25.5 billion in the second quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 2%, exceeding analysts' expectations.
However, the company's net profit (calculated according to US GAAP) decreased by 45% to $1.478 billion; Earnings per share also decreased by 46% year-on-year, to $0.42; The total gross profit margin was 18%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, but an increase of 0.6 percentage points month on month.
Tesla attributes its revenue growth to the growth of its energy production and storage business, increased delivery of Cybertrucks, and a decrease in the average selling price of Model S, 3, X, and Y vehicles. Among them, the deployment of energy storage systems Megapack and Powerwall reached a new high in the second quarter, with a total storage deployment of 9.4 GWh.
Tesla produced 410831 vehicles in the second quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 14%, and delivered 443956 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 5%. It is worth noting that the production and delivery of Model 3 and Y have decreased by 16% and 5% respectively year-on-year.
On April 21 this year, Tesla Model 3, Y, S and X all reduced the price by 14000 yuan in Chinese Mainland. Subsequently, Tesla also launched multiple promotional activities such as the "limited time financial exchange policy" and "five-year zero interest". On July 23rd, Tesla China announced that its five-year interest free financial policy will be extended until August 31st.
The delivery in the second quarter fell short of expectations, putting pressure on Tesla's performance. Tesla expects continuous production growth in the third quarter in its financial report.
Overall, in the first half of this year, Tesla delivered a total of 830766 electric vehicles, which is less than half of last year's 1.81 million vehicles.
Some analysts believe that Tesla's delivery volume has declined year-on-year for two consecutive quarters this year, and based on the current delivery situation, it is difficult to reach last year's delivery level. Meanwhile, Tesla's market share in the US electric vehicle market has fallen below 50% for the first time, and it is also facing the same situation in Europe and China, indicating that its market share is rapidly being eroded by competitors.
Robotaxi "skipping tickets"
Elon Musk: FSD is expected to be approved in China by the end of the year
Tesla CEO Musk officially announced during the earnings call that Robotaxi will be delayed until October 10th and may be put into use by the end of this year or at the latest next year.
On April 6th of this year, Musk announced that Tesla plans to launch Robotaxi on August 8th. Recently, there were market reports that Tesla will delay the release of Robotaxi. On July 16th, Musk stated on social media that he has requested significant design changes to the front of Robotaxi, and the additional time gained from the delayed release date will give the company the opportunity to showcase some other content.
Casey Wood, CEO of Ark Investment Management, believes that Tesla's autonomous taxi platform will occupy the largest share of the artificial intelligence market, and by 2030, the entire opportunity will generate $8 trillion to $10 trillion in revenue.
In addition, Musk revealed during a conference call that Tesla will apply for regulatory approval in Europe and China to implement supervised FSD, and is expected to receive approval before the end of this year. It is reported that in June 2024, the Lingang New Area in Shanghai began to promote the pilot landing of Tesla FSD, and 10 Tesla vehicles will undergo road tests in Shanghai.
In terms of humanoid robots, Musk stated that the second-generation humanoid robot Optimus is already handling battery related tasks in factories, and it is expected that thousands of Optimus will perform tasks at Tesla factories by the end of 2025, with deliveries to external customers starting in 2026. Musk boldly predicted at the 2024 shareholders' meeting that the ratio of humanoid robots to humans in the future will exceed 1:1, and even reach an astonishing 2:1 ratio.
In addition, Tesla will deliver affordable Volkswagen models in the first half of next year, which can use existing production lines, maximizing the utilization of its existing capacity of nearly 3 million vehicles.
