Tesla (TSLA) crashes 12%, sheds $140B as Elon Musk’s ‘just trust me’ doesn’t hold anymore
Complete. Here is the key summaryTesla shares plummeted over 12%, erasing $140 billion in market value, after Q2 2026 earnings missed profit targets and free cash flow turned negative. Despite record revenue of $28.24 billion and deliveries, operating income fell 57% to $398 million, with adjusted EPS of $0.33 missing Wall Street estimates. The decline worsened during the earnings call as investors reacted negatively to Elon Musk reiterating long-standing promises regarding robotaxis and Optimus.
Tesla stock is down more than 12% today, wiping out over $140 billion in market value, after the automaker’s Q2 2026 earnings missed on profit and free cash flow turned negative.
The slide got worse during the earnings call, when Elon Musk repeated the same robotaxi and Optimus promises he’s been making for years.
A bad quarter for everything but car sales
Tesla posted record revenue of $28.24 billion, up 26% year-over-year, and a record 480,126 deliveries. That’s about the only good news in Tesla’s Q2 2026 financial results.
Operating income fell 57% to $398 million. Operating margin collapsed to 1.4%, down from 4.1% a year ago. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.33 per share, well short of the roughly $0.53 Wall Street expected.