Honestly, I don't get how Tesla can still hold up so high. Those results are a disaster. Not to mention that half of the entire official report is just illustrative or AI-generated photos of the future that Tesla is planning. And coincidentally, it's exactly at the halfway point, conveniently before the financial statements...
The fact that Tesla $TSLA reported record Q2 2026 revenue of $28.24 billion with 26% year-over-year growth and earnings per share significantly missed is not the main point.
What interested me much more were the margins.
Gross margin fell to 16.8% from 17.2% a year ago, while the market expected 19.4%. Operating income plunged 57% to $398 million, and operating margin tanked from 4.1% to 1.4%. For a company valued this high, 1.4% is truly pathetically low. If we compare similarly sized companies (by market cap), $META has an operating margin around 40%, and $LLY even has 45%. Sure, both companies have a completely different business, but their market cap is largely built on real numbers. With Tesla, it's exactly the opposite. Most of the valuation is based on investor belief.
If you hold $TSLA shares, please enlighten me on your investment thesis—I'd love to discuss it.
