Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares slipped 4% in post-market trading as record quarterly revenue failed to keep investors’ eyes off the company’s tightening margins.
Second-quarter 2023 revenue rose 47% year over year to $24.93 billion, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the period sat at $0.91.
Gross margin fell to 18.2% from 19.3% in 1Q though, with the company having to cut prices on its electric vehicles due to increased competition.
Analysts expected 2Q revenue of $24.47 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.82, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
The company also noted that research and development costs for the quarter increased to $943 million from $771 million in the previous quarter, as Tesla wrote that it is focused on “being at the forefront of AI development”, and has started production of its Dojo “training computers”.
During 1Q 2023, Tesla reported net income of $2.51 billion on revenue of $23.33 billion.
The company had previously reported that it delivered a record 466,140 vehicles in its second quarter, up 10% from the previous quarter and 83% higher than a year ago.
Analysts, on average, had expected the company to deliver 445,000 cars.
Shares in Tesla eased as much as 4% to $279.07 in Wednesday’s after-hours session.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com