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July 2 (Reuters) - Tesla TSLA.O 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.

Shares of the Austin, Texas-based company were up less than 1% in premarket trading. The company said it will report quarterly results on July 22 after markets close.

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 002594.SZ 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.