Tesla blew past Wall Street estimates for second-quarter deliveries yesterday, posting a record for the period as recovering demand in Europe outweighed persistent weakness in North America.
The strong figures suggest Tesla’s mainstay auto business is regaining momentum after two straight annual sales declines, providing the spending cushion needed to power its ambitions in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence – the main drivers of the company’s roughly $1.6 trillion valuation.
Tesla expects to spend more than $25 billion on capital expenditure in 2026, nearly triple the $8.5bn last year, to expand AI infrastructure, battery production, Cybercab manufacturing and Optimus robots.
“I think the huge growth in Europe is the key driver for Tesla right now. US sales still appear to be down, albeit less than the broader US EV decline, while China is seeing small growth,” said Seth Goldstein, senior analyst at Morningstar.
Tesla’s recovery in Europe was aided by government EV incentives, faster electrification of corporate fleets, higher fuel prices and an easing of the consumer backlash over CEO Elon Musk’s far-right politics last year.
The company delivered 480,126 vehicles in the April-June period, a record for the second quarter and up about 25 per cent from a year earlier, easily surpassing analysts’ average estimate of 402,776 vehicles, according to Visible Alpha data.
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