New Delhi, July 3 -- NEW YORK - The number came in at 480,126. Analysts had penciled in roughly 406,000. The gap between what Tesla produced and what the market expected was nearly twice the entire quarterly output of a medium-sized automaker, and on any ordinary Wednesday it would have sent shares higher. Instead, Tesla's stock fell seven percent.

up or down. The Q2 figure settled it decisively, rising 25 percent from the same period last year, the company's best second quarter in its history, and the first time since early 2024 that Tesla posted year-over-year growth. The market processed all of it in roughly six hours and concluded the wrong question had been asked.

The question is margins.

Tesla released the Q2 production and deliv...