Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDaniel Sparks, The Motley FoolSat, July 18, 2026 at 10:33 AM GMT+2 4 min readTesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) investors already know the headline numbers for the second quarter. The electric vehicle and energy company said earlier this month that it delivered 480,126 vehicles during the period, up about 25% year over year and more than it has delivered in any second quarter in its history. It also deployed 13.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage products, up about 41% from the year-ago period.What investors don't know yet is what those record deliveries did to Tesla's profitability. That answer arrives on Wednesday, July 22, when the company posts its second-quarter results after market close, followed by a live management webcast at 5:30 p.m. ET.Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »With the stock closing Wednesday at $394.46, down about 12% year to date, Tesla commands a market capitalization of about $1.5 trillion and trades at about 360 times earnings. Investors paying that kind of premium aren't buying delivery counts. They need evidence that Tesla can turn all this volume into profit.That's why I think one line in next week's report matters more than any other: automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credit sales.Tesla Cybercab. Image source: Tesla.Tesla's core profitability has quietly improved for a full year now. The company's automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits was 12.5% in the first quarter of 2025. It climbed to 15% in the second quarter, 15.4% in the third, 17.9% in the fourth, and 19.2% in the first quarter of 2026.That's four consecutive quarters of expansion.This metric is worth attention because it strips out regulatory credits, the emissions credits Tesla sells to other automakers. That revenue is nearly pure profit, but it says nothing about the economics of building cars. And its contribution is shrinking anyway -- credits added 3.7 percentage points to Tesla's automotive gross margin in the first quarter of 2025, but just 1.9 points a year later.However, there is a caveat in the streak. Tesla said its first-quarter results included one-time benefits related to warranty adjustments and tariffs, which helped both its automotive margin and its 4.2% operating margin.So the July 22 report has to do two things at once. It has to show that the margin held up near 19% on record volume, and it has to show that Tesla managed this without one-time help.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info