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Tesla's revenue plummeted by 12% in the second quarter. Musk: By the end of the year, half of Americans will enjoy Robotaxi
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has conveyed a message to investors: the next few quarters may be "difficult," but the situation will improve significantly thereafter.
On the early morning of July 24th Beijing time, Tesla's financial report showed that it achieved revenue of $22.496 billion in the second quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 12%, lower than Wall Street's expected $22.6 billion; The net profit for the second quarter was $1.172 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 20.7%, higher than Wall Street's expectation of $1.135 billion. The gross profit margin for the second quarter was 17.2%, compared to 18% in the same period last year, and the market expectation was 16.5%. According to Reuters, this is Tesla's biggest quarterly revenue decline in 10 years.
The decline in revenue is affected by vehicle delivery. Tesla's previously released data showed that the new car delivery volume in the second quarter of 2025 was 384100 units, a decrease of about 60000 units from the second quarter of last year, a year-on-year decrease of 13.48%.
For Tesla investors, the positive side is that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has placed a heavy bet on the future of autonomous driving and Robotaxi, which has become the focus of analysts' attention during the earnings call.
FSD: 'Indeed the biggest demand driver'
Musk revealed that Tesla is making significant improvements to its intelligent assisted driving system FSD, and the company may increase the number of parameters that users currently experience by 10 times.
In one of the core markets, Europe, despite facing regulatory challenges, Musk believes that Tesla will eventually receive these approvals and hopes that some parts of Europe can experience FSD in the coming months.
This is indeed the biggest demand driver, "Musk added.
Regarding the autonomous driving FSD technology and regulatory barriers, Musk stated that he believes the feature should be launched in multiple cities by the end of this year. However, Tesla attaches great importance to safety issues, so the launch of the autonomous FSD will be very cautious.
In addition, he revealed that Tesla cars from Fremont, California are expected to achieve autonomous driving and deliver vehicles to customers by the end of this year. Previously, Tesla's Texas Gigafactory had already achieved self delivery of cars to their owners.
As for the upgrade of old models, some investors have raised questions about the third-generation hardware HW3 model. Tesla has stated that they are focusing on promoting the autonomous FSD to the fourth generation hardware HW4 model first, and then looking back at what functions the HW3 model can achieve.
An analyst asked about FSD subscription trends, and Tesla pointed out that since the launch of FSD V12 in North America, consumer acceptance has significantly increased. When asked if FSD would further adjust prices, Musk pointed out that Tesla is in a transitional period in the United States. He acknowledged that Tesla may experience several difficult quarters, but once autonomous vehicle are scaled up, Tesla's economic benefits will be very satisfactory.
Robotaxi: Half of the US population will be able to enjoy it by the end of this year
In June, Tesla launched its first Robotaxi service in Austin. Tesla stated that relying on a pure visual architecture and training neural networks with data from millions of fleets worldwide, the autonomous driving solution can continuously improve safety, rapidly expand service networks, and enhance profitability.
Musk introduced during the earnings call that Tesla has expanded its autonomous taxi testing range in Austin, Texas, and also expanded its operating area, with more vehicles expected to be put into use in the future.
He mentioned that Robotaxi services will expand to the Bay Area, Arizona, and Florida in the coming months.
I believe that by the end of this year, half of the population in the United States will be able to enjoy Robotaxi services. "Musk said, while emphasizing that this still requires approval from regulatory authorities.
An analyst asked about the key performance indicators for Robotaxi deployment, and Tesla pointed out that currently the company only has a small number of vehicles, but so far the autonomous driving mileage in Austin has exceeded 7000 miles.
Musk responded that the Robotaxi service aims to maximize comfort and safety, while the design of Cybercab is aimed at cost optimization, and the cost per mile of Cybercab will be very low.
He also added that the Tesla Robotaxi fleet is likely to go from miniature to giant in a very short period of time. "
Barclays analysts wrote in their report to investors: This financial report conference call also provides a shining opportunity for Tesla's self driving taxi/autonomous vehicle business, which has always been the core of Tesla's stock price rise.
Humanoid robot: 'Late but arrived', the third generation will be better
As for the humanoid robot Optimus, Musk said that this humanoid robot is currently in its second generation, and its third generation will be "more refined".
Musk said, "Tesla is far ahead of the world in the field of artificial intelligence technology in the real world
He also criticized his competitor Waymo, stating that although Google excels in artificial intelligence, this tech giant is not particularly strong in real-world applications of artificial intelligence. Years of experience in producing and designing cars are important.
Musk stated that Tesla is likely to launch a prototype of Optimus 3 this year and achieve mass production next year. Considering Tesla's goal of producing millions of Optimus robots annually, the company will accelerate these plans as soon as possible. Musk believes that achieving an annual production of 1 million Optimus robots within five years is feasible.
We may not always be on time, but we can always get it done, "Musk said. He also reiterated that if Tesla's execution is excellent, it can become the world's most valuable company.
Cheaper model: 'Looks like Model Y', mass production in the second half of the year
Tesla's cheaper model is also a product that has been repeatedly criticized.
Tesla mentioned in its financial report that it started producing a "more affordable model" in June and expects to achieve mass production in the second half of this year. But Tesla's CFO mentioned during the earnings call that the expansion speed will be slower than expected.
Regarding this more affordable model and its exterior design, Musk responded that it looks like the Model Y. He also pointed out that people crave Tesla, but Tesla's car prices are still not affordable enough.
Tesla also stated that it expects the model to be launched in the fourth quarter.
In addition, the research and development of Tesla Semi electric trucks and Cybercab are also steadily advancing, both of which plan to achieve large-scale production by 2026.
Tesla stressed that its core priorities are: fast iterative automatic driving, launch autonomous vehicle with affordable prices, and maximize the value of the global fleet; Expand the scale of energy business; Promote research and development in the field of robotics.
Musk himself: Cannot have too much control to 'prevent me from going crazy'
Although some Wall Street analysts are optimistic that Tesla has regained its "wartime CEO," Musk himself has always been one of the risks that Tesla investors face.
Due to Musk's words and actions, Tesla has always been at the center of public opinion. In the second quarter of this year, due to Musk's deep involvement in politics, Tesla's operations, reputation, and other aspects also experienced ups and downs.
During the earnings call, an analyst asked Musk if he was willing to hold only 13% of Tesla's shares. Musk admits that this is his biggest concern and he hopes to discuss it at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting.
He joked that he hoped to have enough control in Tesla so that he wouldn't be ousted by radical investors, but also not too much control to 'prevent me from going crazy'.
He stated that he will appear on stage with several Optimus Prime robots at the upcoming annual shareholders' meeting.
As of press time, Tesla's US stock market fell more than 4% after hours.
