Tesla Posts Its Worst Sales Plunge Ever… But the Cult of the Robotaxi Lives On

Things got tense yesterday after Trump threatened to go after Elon’s federal subsidies. All because Elon hopped on Twitter (yeah, still calling it that) and told the Republican Party: “If you vote for Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, I will personally fund your political funeral.” His actual post wasn’t much different… he vowed to take down any GOP lawmaker who backed the bill, calling it an “abomination” and promising to bankroll their primary challengers.

Trump fired back with a classic “Oh yeah? Enjoy losing your subsidies, nerd.” Specifically, he floated cutting off billions in government support for Tesla and SpaceX… including EV tax credits that just so happen to expire September 30 and could slice about $1.2 billion off Tesla’s annual profit. (I’m not gonna break down the math for you right here, but that’s a lot of Cybertruck cup holders.)

As expected, this caused Tesla shares to drop 5% yesterday, wiping out around $7 billion from Elon’s net worth in a single trading session. That’s what happens when the former president threatens to defund the guy who runs America’s biggest EV company and its Mars program. The market hates uncertainty… and this was political, financial, and personal chaos all wrapped into one.

But if you thought Tesla’s stock was going to stay down, you clearly haven’t been paying attention. By this morning, it had bounced nearly 5%, clawing back everything it lost…  because Tesla dropped its Q2 numbers. And while the results weren’t exactly impressive (unless you’re into year-over-year declines), they also weren’t catastrophic (meaning: the wheels are still on… for now). And in this market, that’s the same as a standing ovation.

Tesla reported 384,122 vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, a 13.5% drop from the same time last year. It’s the biggest quarterly sales plunge in the company’s history, with nearly 60,000 fewer vehicles delivered year over year. And yet… the stock went up. That’s because some analysts feared things would be even worse… some estimates came in as low as 356,000. So in Wall Street logic: miss the shot, but don’t completely whiff it, and you get a cookie.

Production, for what it’s worth, came in at 410,244 vehicles… slightly above forecasts and almost identical to the number from a year ago. That was enough to give the bulls something to latch onto. (Hey, at least the assembly lines still work.) Between that and a small uptick in sales out of China (Tesla’s first monthly gain there in nearly a year) there were just enough good bullet points to keep the narrative from falling apart. But zoom out, and the skyline looks less like Miami and more like Cleveland (depressing). European sales have been falling for five straight months. On top of that, competition in China has been a full-blown onslaught. BYD and Xiaomi are cranking out cheaper, cooler EVs that make the refreshed Model Y look like just another car.

Even the robotaxi hype machine couldn’t save them last quarter. Tesla launched its autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin last month, but it quickly turned into a PR mess after videos showed the cars rolling through stop signs and generally driving like they just had their software updated at a gas station. Still, Elon’s out here claiming millions of them will hit U.S. roads next year. Sure, buddy.

Despite today’s bounce, Tesla’s still down about 17% on the year… making it the worst-performing megacap in tech (congrats). Between declining deliveries, botched product launches, and the very public falling-out with Trump (which, let’s be real, only adds to the nasty smell), it’s hard to argue this year’s been anything but a mess.

And yet, the stock keeps finding a way to bounce. Every time Elon underdelivers, Tesla seems to get rewarded… as long as he’s still tweeting, still promising robotaxis, and still teasing a dystopian future where none of this mess actually matters. At this point, it’s less about earnings and more about faith. Faith that Elon can outmaneuver politics, competition, and his own mouth long enough to keep the dream alive. Because once again, the numbers didn’t save Tesla this week. The blind faith did.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Tesla as mentioned in the article.