特斯拉股价下跌，投资者关注机器人出租车承诺的利润率疲软

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was bid down in early trading on Wednesday after investors digested the company's Q2 miss on the EPS, operating margins, and free cash flow lines. During the earnings conference call, Elon Musk said discounting in the electric vehicle sector has made it difficult for Tesla (TSLA), but was full of promise on the upside for autonomy and a massive robotaxi fleet.

Bank of America lowered EPS estimates on Tesla (TSLA) due to the downturn in gross margin in Q2, which was noted to largely be a result of the hit from incentives (low rate financing) and the ramp of Cybertruck. Analyst John Murphy said the margin pressure was partially offset by a higher dollar value for regulatory credits, which may continue as competitors’ EV production volume targets are being pushed out. BofA reiterated its Buy rating on TSLA due to catalysts ahead, including the Robotaxi Day in October, potential licensing of FSD, new product launches, and realization of cost savings.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives was not pushing the panic button over the Tesla (TSLA) margin weakness. "The next phase of the Tesla growth story is around autonomous, Robotaxis, and AI playing out for Musk & Co. in our view and that vision is on the doorstep," he highlighted.

Needham reiterated a Hold rating. "We remain lukewarm on TSLA-specific demand given consistent financial sacrifices being made to drive unit growth, with our auto gross margin ex regulatory credits estimates moving lower post results," updated analyst Chris Pierce.

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its rating on Tesla (TSLA) to Neutral from Buy on a call tied to valuation.

Evercore ISI kept an In Line Rating on Tesla (TSLA) after pointing out that the gross margin ex-credit trend was disappointing in Q2. Analyst Chris McNally expects investors to pick at the "messy" quarter. He also warned that Tesla (TSLA) set a high bar for meaningful margin improvement in the near term.

On Seeking Alpha, analysts were mostly unimpressed with the Tesla (TSLA) report. Johnny Zhang (Strong Sell), Jonathan Weber (Sell), Bill Maurer (Hold), and Ahan Vashi (Hold) all weighed in with new updates on the electric vehicle stock.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were down 8.40% in premarket trading to $225.69. The decline places the EV stock roughly back to where it started the year.