Story perspectives

Tesla Beats Revenue Forecast, Shares Plunge 14% Amid Robotaxi Glitch

7/26/2026

Summary

Tesla Beats Revenue

Tesla posted Q2 2026 revenue of $28.24 billion, beating the $26.2 billion forecast, while EPS fell to $0.33 and the stock dropped 14.5%.
Deliveries rose 25% to 480,126 vehicles, a record, while gross margin fell to 16.3% versus 18.04% expected.
Free cash flow turned negative $1.1 billion as capex rose to $5.8 billion.
Tesla expects spending above $25 billion, has debt facilities $30 billion, and reported a share price of $319.69 on July 23, down 14.56%.

Summary

Tesla Robotaxi Decline

Tesla’s robotaxi fleet has 59 vehicles, about one-third fully driverless.
Robotaxi mileage fell from roughly 1.1 million miles in Q1 to 700,000 miles in Q2, a drop of over 30%.
A day after launching in Tampa, a robotaxi traveled the wrong way on a one-way street.
Elon Musk and Tesla’s general counsel gave vague, non-committal answers about a possible Tesla-SpaceX merger, sparking governance worries.

History

Historical Context

Apple’s Project Titan entered California road testing in 2018, registering 70 autonomous-vehicle permits by September and operating 66 driverless cars with 111 registered drivers; roughly 5,000 engineers worked on the project. These early permits and massive staffing reflected a surge of industry investment that now underpins Tesla’s 2026 robotaxi rollout, illustrating how testing frameworks shaped today’s autonomous-mobility ambitions.

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Tesla Beats Revenue

Tesla posted Q2 2026 revenue of $28.24 billion, beating the $26.2 billion forecast, while EPS fell to $0.33 and the stock dropped 14.5%.
Deliveries rose 25% to 480,126 vehicles, a record, while gross margin fell to 16.3% versus 18.04% expected.
Free cash flow turned negative $1.1 billion as capex rose to $5.8 billion.
Tesla expects spending above $25 billion, has debt facilities $30 billion, and reported a share price of $319.69 on July 23, down 14.56%.

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