Cybertruck is criticized as the biggest blunder in automotive history, and Tesla's stock price plummets

Quick Read

• Tesla's stock price fell 18% in a week, following the company's second-quarter earnings per share of $0.33, which was below market expectations, and free cash flow turned negative at $1.09 billion.
• The annual sales of the Cybertruck are only one-sixth of Musk's expected sales of 250,000 units, and it has the largest decline in sales among American electric vehicle brands in 2025.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) investors faced another blow last week, as ambitious goals may ultimately turn into a cautionary tale of failure. A report released by Bloomberg on July 22 indicated that the Tesla Cybertruck pickup has surpassed Ford's Edsel in the gap between target and actual sales, becoming a benchmark for commercial failure in the automotive industry. Hours later, Tesla's second-quarter financial report fell short of expectations, and the stock price recorded its worst weekly performance since 2022.

The Edsel Benchmark

Ford launched the Edsel in 1957, expecting first-year sales to reach 200,000 units. However, actual sales were less than one-third of the target, and its vertical grille (mocked for resembling a toilet seat) became synonymous with corporate failure, a reputation that has lasted nearly seventy years.

Elon Musk set higher goals. He predicted that annual sales of the Cybertruck could reach 250,000 units, calling it Tesla's "best product ever." However, in its first full year on the market, the pickup's sales were only about one-sixth of the target. Bloomberg's charts show that sales in the second year fell to far below 25,000 units, with a larger decline compared to the Edsel.

Accelerating Decline

Data from Cox Automotive illustrates this trend. The Cybertruck sold 38,965 units in 2024, with sales dropping to 20,237 units in 2025, a year-on-year decline of 48.1%. Fourth-quarter sales in 2025 were 4,140 units, down 68.1% from 12,991 units in the same period the previous year. Deliveries in the first quarter of 2026 hit a record low of only 3,519 units. Bloomberg cited data from S&P Global Mobility showing that as of May 2026, the Cybertruck had only 7,133 registrations in the U.S.

In 2025, this truck experienced the largest sales decline among all electric vehicle models in the U.S. Tesla's financial report documents listed the Cybertruck alongside the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, Cybercab, Semi, and Roadster, but it has not been a driver of growth in the last four quarters Stock Plunge

The story of Cybertruck is just a microcosm of Tesla's overall decline. As of the week ending July 24, 2026, Tesla's stock price fell by 17.81%, closing at $313.03. After the earnings report was released, the stock dropped as much as 14% in a single day, reaching its lowest point in 11 months.

The second-quarter earnings report explains the market reaction. Revenue reached $28.24 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.52%, with a record delivery volume of 480,126 vehicles. The adjusted earnings per share were $0.33, below the market's general expectation of $0.5367. Operating income fell by 56.88% to $398 million, free cash flow turned negative at $1.09 billion, and operating expenses surged by 47% to $4.35 billion, mainly for artificial intelligence infrastructure, research and development, and equity incentives. Full-year capital expenditures are expected to exceed $25 billion for Optimus, Cybercab, and artificial intelligence data centers.

Short sellers profited $4.3 billion from the single-day sell-off (based on market capitalization). This wave of selling caused Musk's personal net worth to evaporate by approximately $130 billion.

Viewing Guide

So far this year, the stock price has fallen by 30.39%, and market forecasts indicate that the stock price will fluctuate between $300 and $330 until the end of the month, while analysts unanimously expect a target price of $402.76. Whether Cybertruck can become a classic model like Edsel remains unknown