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Compare Tesla with other EV stocks using the same reporting periods and the same definitions—not delivery counts alone. Start with vehicle and revenue growth, separate automotive margins from consolidated margins, then examine operating profit, cash flow, liquidity and financing needs. Only after that compare valuation using market capitalization or enterprise value on a common date. The available figures show why those steps matter, but they do not establish which stock is cheaper today: there is no common-date share-price and valuation snapshot here.
Why EV-stock comparisons need more than a delivery ranking
EV companies can differ in scale, product mix, segment contribution, manufacturing ramp and funding needs. Tesla is a scaled vehicle and energy company; Rivian reports automotive and software-and-services operations and is launching R2; Lucid is a smaller premium-vehicle manufacturer that remains loss-making. A comparison that puts their headline growth rates or gross margins side by side without those distinctions can be misleading.
Use the same fiscal period and year-over-year basis wherever possible. The figures below are company-reported, in U.S. dollars, and deliberately identify their periods. They are not a same-quarter financial ranking: Tesla’s Q2 2026 source listed here reports deliveries and storage deployments, not quarterly financial results.
What the reported figures show
| Company and period | Growth and scale | Margins and profitability | Cash and liquidity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla, FY2025 | Total revenue was $94.83 billion, $2.86 billion below 2024. Automotive sales revenue fell 9% year over year, while energy generation and storage revenue rose 27%. Tesla produced about 1.66 million vehicles and delivered about 1.64 million. | Total automotive gross margin was 17.8%, down from 18.4% in FY2024; automotive plus services and other gross margin was 16.2%. Energy generation and storage gross margin was 29.8%, up from 26.2%. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $3.79 billion, down $3.30 billion year over year. Tesla FY2025 Form 10-K | Use Tesla’s Form 10-K for balance-sheet and cash-flow comparisons; the figures in this snapshot do not supply a matching peer liquidity table. |
| Tesla, Q2 2026 | 480,126 vehicle deliveries, 451,758 vehicles produced and 13.5 GWh of storage deployments. Tesla Q2 2026 production, deliveries and deployments release | This release does not provide the quarterly financial results needed for a same-quarter margin or revenue comparison. Tesla cautions that deliveries and storage deployments are only two measures of performance and should not alone be relied on as indicators of quarterly results. | Not stated in this delivery release. |
| Rivian, Q2 2026 | 12,194 deliveries; revenue was $1.658 billion, up 27% year over year. Rivian Q2 2026 results | Gross profit was $179 million, or an 11% consolidated gross margin. Automotive recorded a $36 million gross loss; software and services generated $215 million gross profit and a 42% segment margin. Operating cash flow was negative $487 million, capital expenditures were negative $362 million, and free cash flow was negative $849 million under Rivian’s stated definition. | Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $5.310 billion at quarter end. Total liquidity was $5.846 billion before the pro forma July follow-on proceeds described in the release. |
| Lucid, FY2025 | 15,841 vehicles delivered; revenue was $1.354 billion, up 68% year over year. Lucid FY2025 Form 10-K | Gross margin was negative 92.8%, so revenue growth did not mean the vehicle business had reached gross profitability. | Use the Form 10-K for period-matched cash, debt and cash-flow figures; a matching liquidity figure is not stated in the FY2025 results cited here. |
| Lucid, Q2 2026 | 4,774 vehicles produced and 3,953 delivered; revenue was $405 million, up 56% year over year. Lucid Q2 2026 results | The release described a $1.4 billion cash-flow improvement opportunity for 2026. This is a forward plan, not a realized saving or reported margin result. | Total liquidity was $3.0 billion, as reported by Lucid for Q2 2026. |
Rivian also reported $308 million of software-and-services revenue attributable to the Volkswagen Group joint venture. Its Q2 results included regulatory-credit revenue and an IEEPA tariff refund receivable, factors to consider when judging the durability of reported margin. Lucid’s CEO described the company’s strategy and execution positively in its FY2025 release; that is management’s characterization, not a substitute for the reported growth and negative gross margin. See Lucid’s FY2025 results release.
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How to compare growth fairly
- Align the periods. Compare full-year with full-year, or quarter with the same quarter a year earlier. Do not rank an annual figure against a quarterly one.
- Read deliveries beside revenue. Deliveries indicate units handed over, not the revenue or profit earned per vehicle. Pricing, model mix, incentives and non-vehicle segments can make unit growth diverge from revenue growth.
- Separate segments. Track vehicle revenue and energy, software or services revenue where the company reports them. A company with a growing non-automotive business is not directly comparable to one whose results are dominated by vehicle sales.
- Check production against deliveries. The gap can help frame inventory and fulfillment questions, but it does not, by itself, establish demand, inventory quality or profitability.
- Use multi-year context as well as year-over-year growth. A launch, plant ramp or unusually weak prior period can make a single growth rate a poor guide to the underlying trajectory.
How to compare margins and profitability
Keep automotive gross margin separate
Automotive gross margin asks how much remains from vehicle-related revenue after the costs included in that company’s automotive cost of revenue. Consolidated gross margin can include other activities, such as energy, software, services or regulatory credits. Those segments may have very different economics. Tesla’s energy margin, for example, should not be described as its vehicle margin; Rivian’s software-and-services contribution changes the interpretation of its consolidated result.
Before comparing two percentages, check what each company includes in the segment and whether the measure is GAAP. Where available, put automotive revenue, automotive gross profit, average selling price, unit cost and production-versus-delivery balance alongside the margin. A margin change can reflect price and model mix as well as manufacturing costs.
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Move from gross profit to operating and net results
Gross profit does not include all expenses needed to run the business. Compare GAAP operating income or loss and net income or loss over aligned periods; label any adjusted measure separately rather than treating it as interchangeable with GAAP. A manufacturer can report positive consolidated gross profit while still spending heavily on research, sales, administration or production expansion.
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Compare operating cash flow, capital expenditure and free cash flow, using each company’s stated definition. Then review cash, debt, total liquidity and any financing activity. A cash balance alone does not show how much time a company has to fund operations and investment at its current burn rate. Do not annualize one quarter’s cash flow as if it were a stable run rate, especially during a launch or manufacturing ramp.
How to compare valuation without implying a current stock verdict
Operating performance and share valuation answer different questions. Faster revenue growth does not automatically make a stock cheaper, and a profitable company is not automatically inexpensive. The figures above do not include a common-date market capitalization, enterprise value, diluted share count, debt-and-cash calculation or analyst estimates, so they cannot establish a current relative valuation or fair value.
- Choose one quote date. Record the share price, exchange and trading line for each security on the same date. For international listings or ADRs, state the share class, currency and exchange-rate date.
- Use a consistent share count. Calculate equity value with the same share-count convention for each company and state whether it is basic or diluted. Explain any material difference between the quoted market capitalization and your calculation.
- Calculate enterprise value consistently. Start with equity value, add debt and other material claims included in the chosen methodology, and subtract cash and cash equivalents. Define the treatment of leases or other obligations rather than silently mixing conventions.
- Choose a denominator that means something. EV/revenue can be used to describe businesses with negative earnings, but it does not measure profitability. EV/EBITDA or P/E is not a meaningful ordinary comparison when the denominator is negative; label such a multiple negative or not meaningful. Free-cash-flow yield is more informative when cash flow is positive and representative.
- Label trailing versus forward figures. For forward multiples, name the estimate source and date. Estimates are not reported results, and one company’s forecast period may not match another’s.
A comparison table should display the quote date, currency, share count, cash, debt, enterprise-value method, denominator period and data source next to each multiple. Without those inputs, a ranking risks comparing stale prices, inconsistent capital structures or negative denominators as though they were ordinary valuation metrics.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this peer set can and cannot tell you
Tesla, Rivian and Lucid illustrate distinct operating profiles, but they are not a complete international EV universe. These figures do not establish how BYD or other manufacturers compare, and they are not a current stock screen. To build an actual peer ranking, add the relevant companies’ official results for matching periods and calculate valuation inputs from one common market date. Any comparison should also account for product launches, factory utilization, regulatory credits, tariffs, customer concentration, software contribution and potential dilution rather than treating reported growth as a standalone investment signal.
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