Tesla earnings briefing: Elon Musk talks about robot taxi delays, rising energy, and declining discounts, and blames Nvidia

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) declined in post-market trading on Tuesday as EPS, operating margins, and free cash flow fell short of consensus expectations.

Elon Musk said during the earnings conference call that discounts in the electric vehicle sector are difficult for Tesla (TSLA), but that is only an immediate issue.

The Austin-headquartered company said it plans to offer an affordable model in the first half of next year, but did not provide details.

Musk said autonomous driving will be a major driver of demand.

The robot taxi event was postponed to October 10, and Musk said he could add a few things for the product launch.

Mask emphasized that the humanoid robot Optimus will be produced next year.

In 2025, thousands of Optimus robots will perform the company's important tasks, and he expects the second version to be sold to external companies in 2026.

Regarding the energy business, Musk said Tesla (TSLA) is growing as fast as possible.

Musk concluded his opening comment by stating that the importance of autonomy should not be underestimated.

In the question and answer session, Mr. Musk stated that he was impressed by the NVDA (NVDA) GPU cluster, but that he wants Tesla (TSLA) to develop the supercomputer “Dojo.”

He also stated that Tesla (TSLA) is putting plans on hold on Mexico's Gigafactory plans because of the American elections and possible tariffs if Donald Trump is elected.

The initial reaction to the financial results report has already come out. Seeking Alpha analyst Ahan Bashi pointed out that since Tesla's (TSLA) energy generation/storage business increased 100% from the previous year, it dodged a decline in automobile-related revenue, and the top line grew by +2%. “Although gross profit margins and operating margins showed signs of recovery in the second quarter, the increase in AI CAPEX spending had an impact on cash generation. Nonetheless, Tesla reversed the alarming inventory build-up seen in the first quarter, and it became a business that once again generated cash,” Bashi updated. Overall, Tesla's report for the second quarter of 2024 is likely to be better than feared. However, since valuations were being extended towards the report, it was added that “movements can be seen” selling news outside of hours. Seeking Alpha analyst Steven Fiorillo said he was extremely optimistic and bullish about Tesla (TSLA). “We are still operating in a high interest rate environment, and Tesla had a record quarter and generated $25.5 billion in revenue from the business. TSLA achieved an 84.34% increase in sales compared to the previous quarter in the energy generation and storage business, and since the automobile division accounted for 77.95% of earnings in the second quarter, it contributed to business diversification.” Mr. Fiorillo reminded investors that Tesla (TSLA) never sticks to the present and continues to push the limits for tomorrow's possibilities.

Tesla's (TSLA) stock price was 233.83 dollars, down 4.8% due to overtime trading. Lucid Motors (LCID) in the same sector fell by -0.4% and Rivian Automotive (RIVN) -1.7%. Uber (UBER) was +0.6%, and Lift (LYFT) was +0.3%, and there was a slight increase in response to news that the robot taxi release was postponed.