Tesla CEO Elon Musk will be speaking with reporters from the White House’s Oval Office and President Donald Trump on May 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
in Teslavehicle sales are sluggish, profits are thinning, and revenues from regulatory credit sales are poised to drain due to Republican-led policy changes.
In the past, CEO Elon Musk’s futuristic promises have persuaded investors to look at past topline and revenue figures.
Not now.
Following this week’s rather disastrous revenue report, Musk told analysts over the phone that Tesla’s electric cars will soon be unmanned and will earn money for the owner while they sleep. He also said Tesla’s Robotaxi service, which recently began testing with limited capabilities in Austin, Texas, will expand to other states with the goal of reaching half of the US population by the end of the year.
That wasn’t a problem.
Tesla shares plummeted 8% on Thursday. Investors have focused on the immediate challenges the company faces, particularly the rapid rise in low-cost EV competitors in China and the political backlash against musk that has hurt Tesla brands in the US and Europe.
Auto sales fell 16% year-on-year in the second quarter for EV manufacturers, with sales in Europe and California falling. Musk said there could be “several rough quarters” due to the expiration of EV credits and the tariffs of President Donald Trump.
Stocks bounced back on Friday, earning 3.5%, but still finished the week and fell 22% this year, making its worst performance in Tech’s Mega Cups. Nasdaq rose 1% in a week, up more than 9% in 2025, closing on Friday’s record.
“Look, we love Robotaxis and robots,” analysts at Canaccord Genuity recommends purchasing Tesla stock in a note after the revenue report. “As time goes by, Tesla is well suited to benefit from these future opportunities.”
However, analysts said they are focusing on profit and loss statements, saying, “But we too, now, love growth. We need P&L dynamics.”
Analysts at Jefferies described the revenue update as “a little boring.” And Goldman Sachs said Tesla’s Robotakshi efforts are “still small” with limited technical data points.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Previously calling himself “pathologically optimistic,” Musk was able to shake shareholders and send stocks that occasionally surged with promises of self-driving cars, humanoid robots and more affordable EVs.
But Wall Street sees Tesla get late after missing the deadline for a decade’s self-challenges regarding autonomous driving alphabet The US Waymo and Baidu Apollo go to China.
On Tesla’s shareholder deck, the company said the second quarter marked the start of the “transition from a lead in the electric vehicle and renewable energy industry to becoming a leader in AI, robotics and related services.” The company does not provide new guidance on growth or profits over the next year.
Regulation hurdles
Business Insider reported Friday that Tesla told staff that the Robotaxi service could be launched in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend.
However, Tesla has not applied for the necessary permits to operate the Driverless Ride Hale Service in California, CNBC confirmed. We must first receive approval from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
CPUC told CNBC on Friday that under existing permits Tesla could only operate human-driven chartered vehicle services.
Waymo driverless vehicles will wait at a traffic light in Santa Monica, California on May 30, 2025.
Daniel Cole | Reuters
In the revenue call, Musk and other Tesla executives claimed they were working to approve the company’s regulations to launch in Nevada, Arizona, Florida and other markets in addition to San Francisco, but did not provide details on what would be needed.
Within Austin, the company said the Robotaxis service has traveled 7,000 miles and Tesla is restricting the Robotaxis to the road with a speed limit of 40 mph. The Austin Service includes a small fleet of approximately 10-20 Model Y vehicles with the company’s latest autonomous driving system.
Tesla Robotaxis relies on remote supervision by customer service centre employees and passenger human safety supervisors, ready to intervene when necessary.
Compare that to what Alphabet called on the same day as Tesla’s results in second quarter revenue.
“Waymo drivers now drive more than 100 miles autonomously on public roads, and the team has been testing this year in more than 10 cities, including New York and Philadelphia,” says Alphabet. Meanwhile, Waymo has become important enough, with Alphabet adding categories to other BET revenue descriptions in its latest quarterly submission.
“Revenue from other bets comes primarily from the sale of autonomous transportation services, healthcare-related services and internet services,” Filing said. Other BET segments are relatively small, with revenues reaching $373 million per quarter.
Regardless of investor skepticism, Musk is more bullish than ever.
On Friday, the world’s wealthiest person posted on social network X, and Tesla believes it will one day be worth $20 trillion. Earlier in the week, he said when it comes to AI for cars and robots, “Tesla is actually much better than Google” and “much better than anyone in real-world AI.”
Watch: A tough quarter for Tesla
