Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is facing growing concerns from financial experts who believe the company is focusing too much on future projects like robotaxis and not enough on boosting current sales and profits.
According to news reports, Tesla’s profits have fallen for the third quarter in a row, and car sales are also going down. Analysts from Canaccord Genuity said, “We love the idea of robotaxis and robots, but we also want to see growth right now. The company needs to improve its financial performance.”
Analysts from Jefferies said Tesla’s recent earnings were “a bit dull,” while Goldman Sachs said the robotaxi project is still in early stages with not much technical progress.
Read more: BREAKING: Tesla Teams Up with Samsung to Build Custom A16 Chips in Texas!
Robotaxi Dreams Face Legal Hurdles
Tesla says its robotaxi program has already covered 7,000 miles in Austin using 10–20 Model Y cars. These cars are not fully driverless yet — they still have a person in the passenger seat and are monitored remotely.
However, launching the service in California might not be easy. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) confirmed that Tesla has not applied for the required permits to run a driverless taxi service. As of now, Tesla is only allowed to run a regular, human-driven ride service.
Meanwhile, Google’s self-driving car division, Waymo, is way ahead. Waymo cars have already driven over 100 million autonomous miles in more than 10 U.S. cities. Waymo also made $373 million in revenue last quarter and is now part of Google’s official financial report under its “Other Bets” category.
Elon Musk Says Tough Times Ahead
During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, Elon Musk warned that the company might go through a few “rough” quarters because some U.S. tax credits for electric vehicles are ending. He said, “We’re in a weird phase where we’ll lose a lot of incentives, so the next few quarters could be tough.”
Still, Musk is hopeful. He believes that by late next year, when Tesla’s robotaxis become more widespread, the company’s financials will look much better.
Tesla’s Latest Financial Results
- Profit: Dropped to $1.17 billion (33 cents per share), down from $1.4 billion (40 cents per share) a year ago.
- Adjusted profit: 40 cents per share, which met Wall Street expectations.
- Revenue: Fell from $25.5 billion last year to $22.5 billion this year, but still did slightly better than expected.
while Tesla continues to work on exciting future tech like robotaxis, many experts believe it needs to focus more on improving current sales and profits to stay strong in the market.
Also See: China’s BYD to Start Assembling Electric Vehicles in Pakistan by 2026
