Tesla sees another quarter of record profits, production and deliveries in Q2

Gather 'round, folks, because it's Tesla earnings time again, and as has seemingly become the norm, the news here is pretty minimal. Tesla has been turning in quarter after quarter of profit, with ever-increasing numbers of vehicles built and delivered and more projects getting delayed.

This quarter, Q2 2021, is no different. Tesla recorded a net income of $1.1 billion GAAP, the company announced today. This marks the first time that the Big T has exceeded the $1 billion mark. Tesla also significantly exceeded its previous vehicle production record, with 206,421 vehicles rolling out of Tesla's various factories. It managed to deliver a record number of vehicles too, with 201,304 vehicles reaching customers.

Those production numbers are particularly impressive when you consider the deleterious effects that the global semiconductor shortage has had on vehicle production for auto manufacturers worldwide. Huge vehicle manufacturers like Ford and GM have had to take drastic measures to keep their more popular vehicles in production, but Tesla has worked to pivot to using whatever chips are available in its vehicles.

Things continue to progress at Tesla's Austin and Berlin Gigafactories, with Model Y production slated to start at the former later in 2021. Tesla is also hot to get Berlin online, largely due to high demand from European buyers and low product availability. Tesla is continuing to install equipment there as well as validating tooling.

Also undergoing validation testing is Tesla's new in-house 4680 cell design. The automaker says it has reached viable yields and has had good luck with pack crash testing, but that it's got work to do on removing production bottlenecks.

Of course, things aren't all rosy in Tesla town. The company is once again pushing back its electric Semi launch, this time to 2022. At this point, we wouldn't be surprised to see it pushed back even further than that, but with Tesla, you never know. Also, there is no mention of the Roadster debut, so that remains anyone's guess.

So, now that Tesla is stable and profitable, the challenge will be to avoid stagnation and deliver on its many lofty promises. Some of those promises, like the elimination of radar from its driver assistance systems, have already started in some markets. Others, like Full Self-Driving, remain mostly marketing hype and nowhere near full autonomy despite a new V9 beta that debuted in July.

Suppose Tesla is able to deliver on those promises and keep from shooting itself in the foot with weird decisions. In that case, it still has to compete with an ever-more-crowded EV market in the US and abroad, fighting hard for its chunk of market share, and we're curious if will be able to pull that all off.

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