Revenue climbs 26% to $28.24 billion, beating Wall Street estimates
Tesla said Wednesday that its second-quarter profit declined as the car company run by Elon Musk poured more money into research and development, eating into gains from a sharp increase in vehicle sales.
The Austin, Texas-based company reported net income of $1.11 billion, or 32 cents per share, compared with $1.17 billion, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding certain charges, adjusted earnings were 33 cents per share, down from 40 cents per share in the same quarter last year. That result missed the 53 cents per share forecast by Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Revenue climbed 26% to $28.24 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $26.42 billion. The top-line growth was driven by a sharp increase in vehicle deliveries during the quarter.
But spending on research and development surged about 49% from a year earlier to $2.37 billion. The spending hike squeezed profit margins even as sales expanded.
Investors reacted negatively to the earnings miss. Tesla shares fell 2.7% to $363.98 in after-hours trading shortly after the results were released. The stock ended the regular trading session down 1.3% and has fallen nearly 17% year-to-date.