Tesla Stock Falls 16% This Week After Missing Q2 Earnings, Musk Praises Retail Investors

On Thursday, Tesla shares fell 16% this week, marking the stock's worst weekly performance in 2026, after the company reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.33 per share, missing Wall Street's $0.54 estimate. Revenue reached $28.24 billion, exceeding expectations, though rising AI and robotics spending pressured margins and pushed free cash flow negative.

Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk told The Economist he is "a big fan of the retail investors," describing them as "very insightful and have very long-term views." According to RBC Capital, the quarter highlighted deepening integration between Tesla and SpaceX across Terafab, Starlink, and autonomous taxi development, with Musk acknowledging "more and more overlap" between his companies during the earnings call.