According to the financial report released by Tesla(TSLA.US) after the close of trading on Tuesday, despite the continuous decline in automobile sales for the second consecutive quarter, the company's revenue performance still exceeded market expectations. However, this achievement did not prevent its stock price from falling nearly 8% in after-hours trading. The financial report shows that Tesla's revenue for the second quarter was $25.5 billion, with market expectations of $24.8 billion, compared to $24.927 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 2%; Operating profit for the second quarter was $1.605 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 33%, with market expectations of $1.81 billion; Net profit dropped 45% from $2.7 billion in the same period last year to $1.48 billion; Adjusted earnings per share were $0.52, lower than market expectations of $0.6.

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In terms of business segments, Tesla's total revenue from the automotive business in the second quarter was $19.878 billion, a 7% decrease from the same period last year. Meanwhile, revenue from its power generation and energy storage business almost doubled to $3.014 billion, compared to $1.509 billion in the same period last year. Revenue from services and other businesses also increased from $2.15 billion to $2.608 billion. Tesla's power generation and energy storage business mainly involves the sale and installation of large backup batteries for residential, commercial and utility use. The company said its Megapack and Powerwall products achieved record deployments during this time.

Although Tesla is still the best-selling electric car brand in the US market, its market share is gradually being eroded by competitors. Part of the reason includes the aging of its car and SUV product lines, as well as controversial political statements made by the company's CEO, Elon Musk.

According to data from sales tracking agency Edmunds, Tesla's market share in the US electric car market has fallen below 50%, which is in sharp contrast to its dominant market position a few years ago. In addition, data released earlier this month showed that Tesla sold 0.444 million new cars worldwide, a year-on-year decrease of 4.8%. This is the first time that Tesla has seen a year-on-year decline in sales for two consecutive quarters, while competitors have seen a 33% year-on-year growth in sales of all-electric cars in the US, further highlighting the challenges facing Tesla.

Although Tesla did not provide new annual sales targets, it warned that "the growth rate of automotive sales in 2024 may be significantly lower than that in 2023." Given the decline in sales in the first half of this year, this statement seems obvious.

Tesla said that in the second quarter, delivery volumes increased significantly in several markets, including Korea, supplied by the Shanghai Super Factory. Although the Chinese automobile market is still one of the most competitive markets in the world, the company believes that its cost structure and focus on core functions create value for customers, laying a good foundation for its long-term development.

Tesla postpones the release of Robotaxi for autonomous driving.

At a recent earnings conference call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company plans to hold a Robotaxi launch on October 10, which is later than his initial proposal of August 8. Musk acknowledged that his past predictions had sometimes been too optimistic, but he firmly believed that he would be very surprised if Tesla failed to achieve its goal of autonomous driving taxis next year. Since 2016, Musk has been promising that Tesla will be able to transform its existing electric cars into fully self-driving vehicles through software updates, which is the company's pursuit of the "full self-driving" vision. Currently, Tesla is independently developing CyberCab, which is designed specifically for robot taxis.

It is reported that since 2016, Musk has been promising that Tesla will be able to transform its existing electric cars into fully self-driving vehicles through software updates, which is the company's pursuit of the "full self-driving" vision. Currently, Tesla is independently developing CyberCab, which is designed specifically for robot taxis.

Musk said in a conference call that he expects Tesla's autonomous driving technology to be widely promoted in the United States and other regions without encountering major regulatory obstacles. He also criticized Waymo's self-driving taxi service as "limited" and "fragile," and confidently stated that Tesla's system will be able to operate globally, not limited to specific geographical areas.

Despite this, as of April, Tesla has not yet contacted regulatory agencies in Arizona, California, and Nevada to apply for licenses and permits required to test unmanned driving vehicles or operate commercial robot taxi services, according to reports.

In a report, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives emphasized that it is crucial to resolve the delay of robotaxis and propose a new timetable, because Tesla's future market cap growth and monetization potential largely depend on the success of its artificial intelligence/fully autonomous driving (FSD) technology.

Other strategic layouts of Tesla.

In addition, many analysts and industry observers believe that the launch of more affordable electric cars will be key to boosting electric vehicle sales growth. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also expressed similar views before. In the second quarter, Tesla increased the production of its latest model, the Cybertruck, with a unique design, and said that this model is expected to be profitable by the end of the year.

In 2021, Musk also promised that Tesla would develop and produce humanoid robots that could perform factory work and other tasks. Recently, he said on social media that he expected Tesla to install some such robots in its factories next year, and planned to offer more robots to other companies by 2026.

Tesla has 'paused' its plans to produce cars in Mexico due to concerns that Trump may impose hefty tariffs on cars produced there. Musk added that the company is increasing the production of existing factories and plans to produce autonomous taxis and Optimus at its headquarters in Austin, Texas.

In terms of capital expenditures, spending increased 10% year-on-year to $2.27 billion this quarter, with $0.6 billion spent on artificial intelligence infrastructure.

It is worth noting that recently Musk has been making headlines more for his political views than Tesla's performance. According to reports, although he plans to donate about $45 million per month to a political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump, Musk has not fulfilled that promise according to the committee's latest quarterly financial report as of the end of June. After an assassination attempt at a political rally on July 13, Musk publicly expressed support for Trump.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, only 13% of Republican and right-leaning voters are interested in buying fully electric cars this year, while 45% of Democratic and left-leaning voters have shown higher interest. This data reflects the political and ideological division in the electric vehicle market, while also highlighting the challenges and opportunities that Tesla faces in promoting the popularization of electric cars.