Tesla has reported a drop in second quarter earnings which surprised analysts, even as it reported record sales in the period.
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Net income was down 17% at $1.2bn. The drop came in spite of Tesla deliveries in Q2 soaring by almost 100k over last year to 480,126 units. Automotive revenues were up by 23% to $20.5bn.
Production of Tesla cars was up 10% to 451,758 units.
Tesla said Q2 record deliveries were supported by record deliveries in several markets, including South Korea, Australia, Colombia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Portugal, the Philippines, Chile, Slovenia and Lithuania.
Some analysts have suggested strong Tesla sales in the quarter reflect lower prices amid shrinking margins. Adjusted EBITDA margin was down to 11.6% in Q2 versus 16.4% in Q1.
The company also said it started production of its Cybercab, a purpose-built autonomous EV designed to be the ‘workhorse’ of Tesla’s robotaxi fleet. Engineering test drives of production Cybercabs on public roads also began during the quarter, and Tesla said it has begun offering employee rides in Cybercabs on its Gigafactory Texas campus in July, both important precursors to wider Cybercab deployment in fleets.
