July 2 (Reuters) - Tesla beat Wall Street

expectations for second-quarter deliveries on Thursday, as

recovering demand in Europe offset subdued demand in North

America and intense competition from Chinese automakers.

The company delivered 480,126 vehicles in the April-June

period, up about 25% from a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected deliveries of 402,776

vehicles, according to Visible Alpha data.

The recovery was driven by improving demand in Europe, where

Tesla saw a rebound in demand in several key markets after a

sharp slump last year that analysts partly attributed to brand

damage from CEO Elon Musk's political activities.

Demand in the United States has also shown signs of

stabilizing after a sharp drop following the expiry of the

$7,500 federal EV tax credit at the end of September.

Tesla has continued rolling out its Full Self-Driving (FSD)

advanced driver assistance software in Europe, although it is

available in only a handful of countries. Analysts expect

broader availability over the coming months to support demand.

Tesla's China-made EV sales have risen this year, helped by

production of refreshed Model Y, despite intense competition

from BYD and other domestic automakers.

Wall Street has increasingly looked past quarterly delivery

figures as Musk shifts Tesla's focus toward artificial

intelligence, autonomous driving, humanoid robots and energy

infrastructure.

Tesla expanded its robotaxi operations after launching a

limited commercial service in Austin in June. Musk has said the

company intends to rapidly expand the service through 2026.

Production of the Cybercab, Tesla's purpose-built autonomous

vehicle without pedals or a steering wheel, is expected to ramp

up later this year.

Wall Street has increasingly looked beyond vehicle

deliveries, focusing instead on Tesla's AI, robotics and

autonomous driving ambitions.

Tesla's valuation of roughly $1.6 trillion depends heavily

on those long-term businesses even though vehicle sales remain

its largest source of revenue.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)