Tesla Shares Climb Nearly 3% to $336 as Robotaxi Gains and AI Push Offset Profit Pressure

Tesla Inc. shares advanced nearly 3% on Thursday, reclaiming ground after a volatile stretch, as investors weighed the electric-vehicle maker's record vehicle deliveries against thinner margins and heavy spending on autonomy and artificial intelligence.

The stock rose $8.93, or 2.73%, to $336.44 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, according to market data as of 1:20 p.m. EDT on Aug. 13. The move extended a recent rebound that has partially erased losses from a sharp sell-off following second-quarter results. Tesla remains well below its 52-week high near $499 and is down substantially for the year, reflecting ongoing debate over the pace of its transition from pure automaker to a company centered on robotaxis, humanoid robots and energy storage.

In the second quarter ended June 30, Tesla delivered a record 480,126 vehicles, a 25% increase from a year earlier and well ahead of its own earlier guidance. Model 3 and Model Y accounted for the vast majority of those deliveries. Total revenue climbed 26% to $28.24 billion, the first time the company generated more than $100 billion on a trailing twelve-month basis. Energy storage deployments reached 13.5 gigawatt-hours, up 41%, while services and other revenue jumped 50% to a record $4.58 billion.

Profitability told a different story. Adjusted earnings came in at 33 cents per share, missing Wall Street estimates that had clustered around 50 cents. Operating income fell sharply and free cash flow turned negative by more than $1 billion as capital spending surged. Regulatory credit revenue, once a reliable profit contributor, dropped significantly. The company has guided for more than $25 billion in capital expenditures this year, roughly triple historical levels, directed at expanding battery capacity, AI compute, Cybercab production and Optimus manufacturing lines.

Tesla said Cybercab, its purpose-built autonomous vehicle without steering wheel or pedals, began production at Gigafactory Texas. Engineering test drives on public roads started, and employee rides were underway on the Texas campus. The unsupervised Robotaxi service expanded to seven major U.S. metros, including new Florida cities, with the company reporting hundreds of thousands of unsupervised miles and no notable safety incidents in the period. Full Self-Driving subscription adoption continued to rise, with more than half of North American deliveries including the feature at the time of purchase.

Construction of Optimus production lines advanced at the Fremont factory after the company decommissioned Model S and Model X assembly there. Tesla Semi volume production remains on track for later this year at a new Nevada facility. Megafactory Texas, focused on energy storage, neared completion. In early August, Tesla and SpaceX jointly announced plans for Terafab, a large semiconductor facility in Grimes County, Texas, with an initial investment of $16.8 billion aimed at producing AI chips for vehicles, robots and data centers.

China remained a mixed picture. Tesla's retail sales there have faced pressure even as the broader battery-electric vehicle market expanded, with recent monthly figures showing a notable year-over-year decline for the company while overall EV demand rose. International markets outside China, including parts of Asia, Europe and Latin America, posted record deliveries in several countries during the quarter.

Chief Executive Elon Musk, speaking on the second-quarter earnings call, emphasized the company's dual focus on near-term execution and longer-term autonomy and robotics. "We're super excited about our autonomy and robotics roadmap," Musk said. "There is so much awesome stuff coming that it is difficult to squeeze everything into an earnings call. We will have a lot of product announcements. This is going to be a great year for Tesla ... one of our best years ever and I think next year will be even better."

Musk also noted shifting customer behavior around Full Self-Driving. "In fact, a lot of people are buying Tesla full self-driving with the car attached, as opposed to a car with FSD," he said. On Optimus, he described the humanoid robot as potentially the biggest product the company has ever pursued while acknowledging the difficulty: "It is a very complex problem to solve ... No one's ever achieved this."

Analysts remain divided. Consensus ratings lean toward Hold, with an average price target in the low $400s, implying meaningful upside from current levels if the company can demonstrate sustained progress on Robotaxi utilization, Optimus production and margin recovery. Valuation remains elevated relative to traditional automakers, reflecting the premium investors assign to Tesla's AI and autonomy ambitions. High capital intensity and the need to convert software and robotics investments into recurring high-margin revenue continue to dominate the debate.

The broader electric-vehicle landscape has grown more competitive. Global EV sales continued rising in 2026, yet U.S. demand has faced headwinds after the expiration of certain incentives. Chinese manufacturers have gained share in key markets. Tesla's ability to differentiate through software updates, energy products and autonomous services will likely determine whether the current recovery in the share price can extend.

Tesla next reports third-quarter results in late October. Until then, investors will watch weekly Robotaxi metrics, battery production progress, any further regulatory developments on unsupervised driving, and signals on Optimus timelines. The stock's recent bounce shows willingness to look past near-term margin compression toward those longer-term catalysts, but the path remains sensitive to execution and broader market sentiment toward high-growth technology names.

Market participants also noted recent comments from Musk on broader mobility visions, including a brief social-media remark that flying cars would eventually arrive. Such statements keep attention on Tesla's expansive technological agenda even as day-to-day trading focuses on deliveries, cash flow and the pace of autonomy commercialization.

For now, the Aug. 13 advance leaves Tesla shares trading with a market capitalization around $1.3 trillion to $1.4 trillion, still reflecting substantial optimism about the company's ability to scale beyond traditional vehicle sales. Whether that optimism proves durable will hinge on the coming quarters of operational progress in robotaxis, energy storage and humanoid robotics.