Tesla Stock Tumbles After Big Earnings Miss

Key Takeaways

• Tesla shares tumbled on Thursday after the EV maker reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit despite revenue exceeding estimates.

• The company burned through more than $1 billion in cash as it upped investments in Robotaxi, Optimus and semiconductor manufacturing.

Tesla (TSLA) shares plummeted Thursday morning after the electric vehicle maker’s quarterly earnings missed estimates as infrastructure spending ballooned. 

The stock was down 13% at $235 in recent trading, leading S&P 500 decliners and trading at its lowest level in nearly a year. Tesla stock has now lost 28% of its value since the start of 2026, making it the worst performer among the Magnificent Seven.

Tesla on Wednesday afternoon reported second-quarter profit of 33 cents a share, an 18% decrease from last year’s quarter and well short of the 55 cents Wall Street had forecast. Revenue increased 26% to $28.2 billion, surpassing expectations. The company’s gross margins contracted by more than 2 percentage points to 16.9% as regulatory credit revenue declined and the average selling price of its cars fell. 

The company reported negative free cash flow for the first time since early 2024, burning through more than $1 billion as its capital expenditures more than doubled to nearly $6 billion. Chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja affirmed the company’s plan to spend more than $25 billion on capex this year, up from $8.5 billion in 2025. Capex is expected to continue increasing in the coming years as Tesla expands its Robotaxi fleet, scales production of its humanoid robot Optimus, and builds its own chip  manufacturing facility. 

Morgan Stanley analysts on Thursday said Tesla’s increasing capex reflected “a necessary investment to secure leadership in autonomy & robotics.” Still, the analysts lowered their price target on the stock to $400 from $417, “reflecting increasing capex and worsening cash burn through the end of the decade.” 

Read the original article on Investopedia