Tesla’s price war is hurting its bottom line more than ever — and Elon Musk is prepared to keep going

• Elon Musk is showing no signs of slowing down Tesla’s price war.
• The CEO said Tesla will continue to slash prices if the economy doesn’t stabilize.
• The company has trimmed its prices several times over the year and its profit margins have slipped as a result.

Tesla’s price war is cutting deep into the electric-car maker’s profit margins, but Elon Musk is showing no signs of stopping.

“If market conditions are stable, I think prices will be stable,” Musk said when asked if price cuts will continue. “If they’re not stable, then we would have lower prices.”

The Tesla CEO said he’s not worried about carving away at profit margins in favor of selling more vehicles.

“I think it makes sense to sacrifice margins in favor of making more vehicles because we think in the not too distant future, they will have a dramatic valuation increase,” Musk said during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday, adding that he believes the Tesla’s autonomous software could be “the biggest step change in asset value, maybe in history.”

The company has repeatedly slashed prices this year. And Tesla owners and investors alike have not responded positively to the price cuts. The company’s gross profit margin dipped below analyst expectations to about 18.2% and its quarterly gross profit margins dropped over 10% year over year, with analysts blaming the price cuts. The company’s operating margin also fell to 9.6% from 14.6% during the same period the previous year.

In the past, the billionaire has told investors that he believes Tesla could technically even sell its cars for “zero profit” due to the future profitability of FSD. He also said it was “ridiculous” the company has positive free cash flow at all as it seeks to rapidly invest in new technologies and products. 

Despite concerns about price cuts, Tesla’s profits climbed during the second quarter, beating Wall Street estimates. The electric-car maker reported adjusted earnings of about $3.1 billion, or 91 cents a share, up 20% from the same time the previous year.

“New car prices and profit margins both declined once again and, while expected, investors are digesting the extent of difficulty EV car sales have become this year, versus 2022,” Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments in New York, said in a note.

Tesla shares sank more than 4% in late trading Wednesday.