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Tesla's delivery numbers are as bad as Wall Street expected — and the stock is up

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Tesla released its second-quarter delivery report on Wednesday. Allison ROBBERT / AFP
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Tesla's delivery numbers are in — and they're as bad as Wall Street expected.

The electric automaker delivered 384,000 EVs in the second quarter, narrowly missing analysts' grim expectations.

Wall Street had prepared for disaster, with analysts on average expecting 389,400 vehicles delivered in the quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The actual number represents a year-over-year decrease of 13.5% from the roughly 444,000 vehicles it delivered in the second quarter of 2024.

This is the biggest quarterly decline in pure numbers in Tesla's history, representing a drop of 60,000 deliveries compared to Q2 2024.

The latest report follows a bruising first quarter for Tesla. The automaker delivered nearly 336,700 EVs in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 13% decrease from the same period in 2024 and its lowest quarter since 2022.

Tesla's stock was around 3% higher soon after the market opened Wednesday following the announcement.

The challenging quarter came after Tesla experienced its first year-over-year delivery decline in 2024 as the company grappled with an industry-wide EV slowdown, increasing competition, and backlash from some against Elon Musk's political actions.

In the company's first quarter earnings call, CFO Vaibhav Taneja attributed lower delivery numbers to assembly line changeover for the refreshed Model Y and anti-Tesla hostility that had an impact in some markets.

The refreshed Model Y — Tesla's best-selling vehicle — has since launched, fueling an increase in new vehicle sales in April for the automaker as other manufacturers saw a monthly decrease, according to Cox Automotive data. However, it's not the more affordable model that the company previously said was on track to begin production by the end of June.

Although Musk stepped down from his political stint at the White House, the full extent of any brand damage to Tesla is not clear.

The company's stock got a boost after Musk stepped away from his work with DOGE, though the Tesla CEO later ignited a highly public feud with Trump. Tesla's stock has seen volatile swings in recent weeks as the two trade insults.

Tesla is looking to buck its sales slump

Tesla's delivery report arrives as the automaker has faced shrinking sales in multiple markets in recent months.

Data from Shanghai-based consultancy ThinkerCar indicated that Tesla's EV sales in China decreased 18% year-over-year between January and May as its rival BYD surged.

The company did get some good news in its second-largest market on Wednesday. According to data from China's Passenger Car Association, the number of cars shipped from Tesla's Shanghai factory rose slightly in June compared to last year, halting an eight-month run of year-over-year sales declines.

Tesla's EU market share dropped year over year from 1.6% to 0.9% in May, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. The automaker saw a 45.2% drop in EV registrations in the first five months of the year in Europe.

When previously asked about declining Tesla sales in Europe, Musk has said that Europe is not a key market for the EV maker and that demand remains strong in other regions.

"Europe is our weakest market," Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum in May.

May data from Cox Automotive suggests that the US EV industry is also facing challenges. New EV sales are down 10.7% year over year despite a 4.2% uptick from the month prior, according to the data. Despite the industrywide headwinds, the report estimated that Tesla remained the market leader in May.

Musk has said that Tesla's bet on solving full vehicle autonomy is key to the company's future growth. The company launched a limited rollout of its robotaxi service in Austin in June, with plans to expand the service in the coming months.

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Ana Altchek
Ana  writes about workplace trends and how AI is reshaping the roles of software engineers. She also regularly interviews C-suite executives about their career trajectories and leadership insights.Ana hosts a weekly video series called "Work Shift," which breaks down the biggest workplace news of the week. She holds a master’s degree in multimedia journalism from NYU and has been featured on BBC, NPR, and other global media platforms.Have a tip? You can contact her via email at aaltchek@bjinnox.com or through the secure-messaging app Signal at aalt.19.
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Tom Carter
Tom Carter is a reporter at Business Insider's London office, covering tech with a focus on Tesla, SpaceX, and robotics. His work includes deeply-reported features, breaking news, and scoops on some of the world’s largest companies.Get an alert whenever this author publishes a story.He can be reached using the secure messaging app Signal (tcarter.41) or email (tcarter@bjinnox.com). We can keep sources anonymous.