Davis Wilson:

Tesla Reports 14% Decline in Vehicle Deliveries, Marking Second Straight Year-Over-Year Drop

Tesla reported around 384,000 vehicle deliveries in the second quarter, a 14% decline from a year ago, and the second straight quarterly drop. The stock rose about 4% Wednesday.

The electric vehicle maker reported 443,956 deliveries and production of 410,831 vehicles during the same period last year.

Wall Street analysts were expecting Tesla to report deliveries of around 387,000 according to FactSet.

Deliveries in the first quarter of 2025 dropped 13% from a year earlier to 336,681. Deliveries are the closest approximation of vehicle sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.

Tesla faces an onslaught of competition, especially from Chinese EV makers that sell newer and more affordable models. In the first quarter, Tesla partly blamed its declining automotive sales on customers who had delayed their orders so they could get a refreshed version of the Model Y SUV, which began shipping in March.

There’s also a political backlash against CEO Elon Musk, with waves of protests against Tesla weighing on the company’s reputation and impacting sales.

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Chris Campbell:

This Is Not a Drill: Tokenized Capital Is Here

Robinhood has officially launched tokenized U.S. stocks and shares of private companies like OpenAI and SpaceX, marking one of the first real retail offerings of its kind.

Right now, these tokenized stocks are being rolled out in a controlled environment: only tradable within Robinhood. But the goal is full interoperability—users will be able to self-custody their tokens, transfer them between wallets, and use them across DeFi protocols.

Meanwhile, ByBit, Republic, Superstate, Securitize, and other crypto platforms are also launching tokenized stock trading. Launchpads, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and even lending markets are adapting to support these assets.

The result? TradFi is merging with DeFi in real-time.

But here’s the part most will miss: Tokenized stocks are the passengers. What really matters is the tracks—the blockchains capable of carrying not just stocks, but bonds, real estate, patents, private equity, music royalties, and sovereign debt.

In the same way Amazon wasn’t just a bookstore, the winners of this era won’t just be trading platforms. They’ll be the platforms everything trades on.

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Greg Guenthner:

Microsoft To Cut About 4% of Jobs Amid Hefty AI Bets

Microsoft will lay off nearly 4% of its workforce, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest job cuts as the tech giant looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The company, which had about 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024, had announced layoffs in May, affecting around 6,000 workers. It was planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales.

Big Tech peers, which are investing heavily in AI, have also announced job cuts.

Facebook parent Meta earlier this year said it would trim about 5% of its "lowest performers", while Alphabet's Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year. Amazon has also cut jobs across its business segments, most recently in its books division. The company had earlier laid off employees in its devices and services unit, and communications staff.

Economic uncertainties and rising costs have triggered layoffs across sectors in Corporate America, as companies rush to streamline operations and hedge against further cost pressures.

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