Business

Tesla Chases Robot Riches While Car Sales Stall

Corporate Strategy
By Daniel Schoester
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According to Elon Musk, the road to riches may soon involve fewer cars — and a lot more robots. Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries slumped 13% in the first half of the year, putting it on course for a second straight annual decline. Still, investors seem stubbornly focused on a not-so-distant future: one where 80% of Tesla’s value comes from Optimus, Musk’s humanoid AI dream.

  • With GM, BYD, and Xiaomi usurping key market sales, has plunged ~11% YTD — but it still trades at a P/E ratio of 191x, eclipsing the Nasdaq 100’s 32x.
  • To unlock growth, Tesla turned to India, but its long-awaited launch flopped, thanks to a $70K floor price amid 110% import tariffs — sending down another 2.5% on Tuesday’s news.

What it means: With his latest “master plan,” Musk is sidelining cars for humanoids, boasting, “We are building the products and services that bring AI into the physical world.” Still, revenue specifics remain sparse, and even Musk admits 2026 delivery is a “very rough guess.” For now, Wall Street seems more interested in sci-fi than hard numbers — so if you can’t beat the market with cars, try it with a dash of Optimus.

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