Tesla, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage.
Tesla reported third quarter results after the US close on Wednesday 21 October.
Revenue came in at $28.05 billion, flat on the $28.10 billion reported a year earlier. Consensus estimates ranged from $27.9 billion (LSEG) to $28.13 billion (Bloomberg), placing the result within the range of forecasts. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.48 compared with estimates of $0.43 to $0.45 and $0.50 a year ago. GAAP EPS fell to $0.22 from $0.39, and GAAP net income dropped 43% to $787 million.
| Metric | Actual | Comparison |
| Revenue | $28.05bn | $27.9bn to $28.13bn consensus; flat y/y |
| Non-GAAP EPS | $0.48 | $0.43 to $0.45 consensus; $0.50 pcp |
| GAAP EPS | $0.22 | $0.39 pcp |
| Gross margin | 19.6% | +160bp y/y |
| Operating margin | 2.6% | 5.8% pcp |
| Free cash flow | $1.53bn | $3.99bn pcp |
| 2026 capex guidance | About $20bn | About $25bn previously |
Automotive revenue slipped 3% to $20.56 billion, with regulatory credit sales falling to $113 million from $417 million. Deliveries fell 2% to 486,532 while production rose 4% to 464,391. Energy generation and storage revenue declined 16% to $2.88 billion, even as deployments rose to 13.7 GWh from 12.5 GWh. Services and other revenue grew 33% to $4.61 billion. Active FSD subscriptions, a count that includes upfront purchases, rose 67% to 1.74 million.
Gross margin rose 160 basis points to 19.6%. Operating margin fell to 2.6% from 5.8%, and operating income fell 56% to $718 million. Capital expenditure more than doubled to $4.73 billion, cutting free cash flow to $1.53 billion from $3.99 billion. Tesla ended the quarter with $45.4 billion of cash and short-term investments.
The update deck carried no capex figure. On the call, chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja cut 2026 capital expenditure guidance to about $20 billion from about $25 billion, and said Tesla plans “to fund [capex] primarily from our cash flows from operations”. The company has up to $30 billion of borrowing capacity and no plan to draw on it this year. Tesla gave no volume guidance, citing battery supply as the limiting factor, and Taneja said the company exited the quarter with its “highest backlog in four years”.
Management targeted Cybercab customer availability by the end of 2026, a robotaxi launch in Dallas next month and the first unsupervised FSD customer activation in the second quarter of 2027. Optimus production has started in Fremont, with external deliveries targeted for around the end of 2027. Elon Musk said reaching the planned annualised Optimus rate would take “probably at least a year”. Semi volume production has begun in Nevada.
Shares closed up 3.4% at $386.47 on Wednesday ahead of the result. They rose about 2% in after-hours trade, then reversed after the capex cut, and indicative after-hours quotes placed them about 2% lower near $378.
