The Tesla brand logo can be seen on May 28, 2026 at the automaker’s location in Parsdorf near Munich (Bavaria, Germany).
Mathias Balk | Photo Alliance | Getty Images
Tesla reported second-quarter vehicle deliveries and production that far exceeded Wall Street expectations as Elon Musk’s automaker tries to recover from a sequential year-on-year decline in vehicle sales.
Here are the key numbers:
- Total vehicles delivered in the second quarter: 480,126.
- Total vehicle production in the second quarter: 451,758 units.
Analysts were expecting about 406,600 deliveries, according to StreetAccount. Tesla’s consensus estimate released last week was 406,024 deliveries.
During the same period last year, Tesla reported 384,000 deliveries, up from 358,023 in the first quarter of 2026.
Thursday’s update showed Tesla deliveries up 25% year-over-year and 34% compared to the first quarter.
Shares of electric car maker Musk fell about 3% on Thursday.
Tesla does not disclose exact delivery figures by region or individual model, but the company said its entry-level Model 3 sedan and top-selling Model Y SUV accounted for 467,762, or 97% of deliveries. Deliveries are the closest to the sales volumes reported by Tesla, but they are not precisely defined in the shareholder communications.
Tesla is struggling to recover from a consistent year-on-year decline in auto sales that was driven in part by a consumer backlash against Musk, the world’s richest man, and the loss of a U.S. federal tax credit. Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric, support for anti-immigrant extremists in Europe and his work with the Trump administration to cut the federal workforce have scared off some potential EV buyers.
Meanwhile, Chinese automakers such as BYD, Nio and Xiaomi have entered the market with a variety of more affordable and high-tech electric vehicles, while Tesla also faces growing competition from South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and European electric vehicle makers including Volkswagen.
To revive sales, Tesla has begun selling cheaper versions of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, and more recently made its driver assistance systems, marketed under the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) brand, available in some European markets.
The biggest boon for the company this quarter may have been rising gas prices as a result of the war in Iran. European car buyers purchased more Teslas and other electric vehicles in the first half of the year. However, oil prices have now returned to the level they were trading at before the war broke out in February, in response to a fragile truce between the US and Iran and diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to a lasting end.
In the U.S., car buyers have moved away from all-electric vehicles and toward hybrids, according to Dan Hirsch, managing director at AlixPartners.
“We have a huge country and people live far apart compared to Europe, where the charging infrastructure is better and people don’t have to travel as far,” Hirsch said.
In the second half of the year, inflation, Changing trade policies and rising costs of chips and other components could be the biggest challenges for U.S. automakers, he added.
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Tesla stock chart.
Musk has instructed Tesla to focus on ramping up production and sales of its semi-electric trucks and to begin production of self-driving Cybercabs. The company also plans to begin production of humanoid robots Optimus.
In Tesla’s first-quarter investor note, the company said it was “optimizing” its vehicle portfolio, “with a focus on vehicles designed for a fully autonomous future” and expecting “volume production of both the Cybercab and Tesla Semi this year.”
In January, Tesla said it would cease production of its flagship Model S and X vehicles and would use its Fremont, California, plant lines to produce Optimus units.
In its energy business, which installs solar photovoltaic systems and sells battery energy storage systems, Tesla said it has implemented 13.5 GWh in the second quarter of 2026, up from 9.6 GWh a year ago. Analysts had expected 13.3 GWh.
Mask SpaceXowner of xAI, bought $269 million worth of Tesla Megapacks in April, according to its IPO filing. SpaceX is using Megapacks to reduce xAI’s energy costs at its energy-hungry data centers in and around Memphis, Tennessee.
In its second-quarter delivery report, Tesla did not disclose whether related party transactions contributed to the strong performance. Last year, SpaceX spent $131 million on Tesla Cybertrucks. That dollar amount represents the majority of the 20,237 Tesla Cybertrucks sold in 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book.
As of Wednesday’s close, Tesla shares were down about 5% this year, while the Nasdaq was up 12%.
Tesla plans to release second-quarter financial results on Wednesday, July 22, after the market closes.
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