A carmaker on the books, an AI bet in the price.
Tesla still earns about three-quarters of its revenue selling cars, and Q3 operating margin was 2.6% on flat sales. Margins and cash flow recovered and 2026 capex was cut to about $20B, but the $1.5T valuation still rests on robotaxi, FSD, Optimus and energy storage.
Price, last 12 months
Daily closes with the 50-day average. The stock peaked in mid-December and slid 39% to a late-July low after the Q2 profit miss. It has since recovered to the high $380s; it slipped about 2% after hours on the Q3 report when 2026 capex was cut to about $20B.
Revenue by segment, by quarter
Automotive is vehicle sales, regulatory credits and leasing. Energy is Megapack, Powerwall and solar. Services & other covers servicing, insurance, Supercharging, used cars and FSD-related revenue. Tesla does not give quarterly revenue guidance, so no forward bar is shown.
| Quarter | Automotive | Energy | Services & other | Total | Total YoY | Gross margin | Non-GAAP EPS |
|---|
Fiscal-year financials
Revenue in US$ millions; Tesla's fiscal year is the calendar year. Revenue fell 3% in 2025 as vehicle sales shrank 10%, and GAAP net income nearly halved to $3.8B ($1.08 diluted EPS) as R&D rose 41%.
| FY25 | US$M | % rev |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 94,827 | 100% |
| Gross profit | 17,094 | 18.0% |
| R&D | 6,411 | 6.8% |
| SG&A | 5,834 | 6.2% |
| Operating income (GAAP) | 4,355 | 4.6% |
| Net income (GAAP) | 3,794 | 4.0% |
| Non-GAAP EPS | $1.67 | — |
Watch list
What moves the thesis, sorted by direction.
Robotaxi and FSD
Cybercab joined the Austin robotaxi fleet on Sep 3, unsupervised miles grew 8× in the quarter and Dallas is next. Active FSD subscriptions rose 67% to 1.74M, with over 75% of North American deliveries attaching FSD.
Volume is back
Gross margin rose to 19.6% and auto margin ex-credits to 18.1%, the best in a year; energy margin hit 33%. Musk says the vehicle backlog is the largest in four years and expects margins to rise meaningfully.
Margin squeeze
Operating income fell 56% YoY to $718M as R&D rose 69%, and GAAP EPS was just $0.22. Revenue was flat, with battery supply still limiting vehicle output.
Capex and cash burn
Free cash flow returned to +$1.53B as capex fell to $4.73B. 2026 capex was cut to about $20B from over $25B, but management says it rises in 2027, and Terafab could cost tens of billions. Cash and investments: $45.4B.
Credits and execution
Credit revenue fell 73% YoY to $113M. Optimus and Semi production has only just started, Optimus customer deliveries are not expected until about end-2027, and unsupervised FSD for owners is targeted for around Q2 2027.
Valuation and dispersion
About 164× 2027 earnings. Analyst targets run from $157 to $840, and 15 of 82 rate it a sell. Average daily range is about $11, so position sizing matters.
Calendar
Robotaxi expansion
Dallas next, more cities before year-end, and 24/7 operation targeted by end-2026.
Q4 deliveries
Production and deliveries usually post on the second calendar day of the quarter.
Q4 and FY26 results
Date not yet announced; full-year results have come in the last week of January.
Sources
- Tesla Investor Relations — quarterly updates, delivery reports
- Q3 2026 production, deliveries & deployments (Oct 2, 2026)
- Q1 2026 Form 8-K and five-quarter summary
- Q2 2026 earnings recap
- Q2 2026 detail: credits, auto margin, outlook
- Q2 2026 10-Q segment table
- Q4 and FY2025 results
- Q3 2026 financial results (Oct 21, 2026)
- Q3 2026 margins, capex and FCF (Electrek)
- Q3 2026 earnings call (Investing.com)
- 2026 capex cut to ~$20B (Seoul Economic Daily)
- SEC EDGAR filings (CIK 1318605)
- Price history, technicals, estimates, analyst consensus: Financial Modeling Prep, as of Oct 9, 2026