Bloomberg Surveillance · Wednesday, July 22, 2026
The market is debating whether Tesla is primarily a car manufacturer or an AI-driven company. While record vehicle deliveries were achieved, lower average selling prices and increased R&D spending, including stock-based compensation, impacted profitability. Investors are looking for more concrete evidence of progress in areas like robotaxis and robotics, which have been promised but not yet fully delivered.
“The street wanted to see Tesla spend a lot of money, more money than they are spending currently based on the trajectory of Capex, to make some progress on robotaxis and robotics.”
“They had lower average selling prices, so you have record vehicle deliveries, but lower ASP has not gone well for them.”
“It's such a simple story. Capital expenditures came in in line with expectations, but on the buy side, just put your money where your mouth is. Is Elon Musk spend more money on the AI story and it hasn't really translated.”