Tesla exceeded its delivery forecasts by nearly a quarter. Why are investors unhappy?

Tesla delivered 480,126 electric vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, according to data released by the company. During the same period, Tesla produced 451,758 vehicles. The company did not disclose its financial results; they are expected to be released after the markets close on July 22.

Deliveries turned out to be significantly higher than analysts' expectations, who had forecast an average of 396,466 electric vehicles, according to Bloomberg. In addition, the result is 25% higher than the figures for the same quarter of 2025.

Tesla shares rose by about 1.6% in the first few minutes after U.S. markets opened on July 2, but then lost momentum and fell by more than 3%. Meanwhile, the market as a whole was rising steadily: the Nasdaq Composite “tech” index gained 0.8%, and the broad-market S&P 500 index rose 0.7%.

Tesla's stock may not be rising after the release of the statistics because investors were already expecting good news: it has risen 12% over the three trading days this week, Barron's suggested.

Rising fuel prices due to the war in the Middle East have led to an increase in Tesla sales in Europe, according to the Financial Times. However, the American company still trails its Chinese competitor BYD: BYD sold approximately 867,000 electric vehicles in the first half of 2026, while Tesla sold 838,149, the newspaper noted.

Although Tesla is improving its delivery figures and electric vehicles account for the bulk of its revenue and profits, many of those who follow the company are no longer particularly interested in this core business: they are more interested in CEO Elon Musk’s focus on turning artificial intelligence, robots, and self-driving cars into major sources of revenue in the future, according to Bloomberg and Barron’s. In addition, more and more market participants expect that Musk may decide to merge Tesla with another company under his leadership—the space firm SpaceX, which held a record-breaking IPO in June, notes Bloomberg.

On the other hand, electric vehicle sales are crucial for Tesla because of its capital expenditures: this year, the company plans to spend more than $25 billion, which is roughly three times as much as in 2025, Bloomberg notes. Musk is investing, among other things, in preparing for the production of Optimus robots and Cybercabs autonomous vehicles, the agency explained.

"AI will continue to influence [Tesla's] stock price in the coming months. However, no one will complain about the recovery of the electric vehicle business," Barron's noted.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor