Tesla is reinvesting recent tariff refunds into expanding U.S. manufacturing capacity, CFO Vaibhav Taneja said on the third-quarter earnings call. Energy gross margin improved sequentially from 20.4% to 33.1%, primarily due to tariff refunds recognized in the quarter and warranty true-downs tied to cell-related costs. Capital expenditures are expected to keep rising over the next few years to add Robotaxi fleet, expand Optimus production, install solar manufacturing, purchase AI compute infrastructure and build a semiconductor fab. CEO Elon Musk targets 5 million vehicles a year by around 2030, while the Austin-based Terafab research fab is expected to begin commissioning machinery in the first half of next year. TSLA was 5.32% lower in premarket trading Thursday after closing up 3.41% at $386.47 Wednesday, and is up 14.06% year-to-date.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
TSLAElon Muskearningselectric vehiclestariffs
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
TSLA
▲ Likely positiveTesla, Inc.
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer Discretionary |
| Industry | Automobile Manufacturers |
| Market cap | $1.4T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 372.21 |
| Change that session | -0.63% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- TSLA Eyes Best Week In 2 Months — Analyst Sees Physical Tech's 'Berkshire,' But Bear Credits Court Ruling For Q3 Beat
Tesla (TSLA) shares fell 3% to $374.58 on Thursday but were still up 6% for the week, on track for their strongest weekly gain since late August. Tesla reported adjusted EPS of $0.48 versus a $0.45 consensus, while revenue of $28.05 billion came in below the expected $28.25 billion. GLJ Research argued the Q3 beat came from a Supreme Court tariff ruling rather than operations, cutting its adjusted EPS estimate to $0.38 versus $0.44 expected. Canaccord raised its target to $442 from $410 and kept a 'Buy' rating, while JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Mizuho, Cantor Fitzgerald and BNP Paribas also adjusted targets or ratings, with targets ranging from $410 to $485. Tesla has more than 1.7 million paid FSD customers globally, while its stock is down about 17% so far this year.
- Tesla's Profit Drops 43% as Musk Starts Building Robots and Plans to Sell Driverless Cabs
Tesla's third-quarter net income fell 43% to $787 million from a year earlier, as revenue held flat at $28.05 billion, operating profit dropped 56% to $718 million, and deliveries fell about 2%. Research spending rose 69% to $2.76 billion and capital expenditures more than doubled to $4.73 billion, aimed at humanoid robots and driverless taxis. Tesla has begun producing Optimus robots in Fremont, California, where Musk targets 20,000 a week but says that will take at least a year, with outside deliveries around the end of 2027. Tesla aims to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of 2026, though every one built so far goes to its own robotaxi fleet, no buyer or price has been named, and a federal safety audit is open. Musk also said the Tesla and SpaceX boards have formed committees to study a possible combination, but no terms have been agreed.
- Why Tesla Stock Dropped After Earnings
Tesla reported a decent third quarter, generating $1.5 billion in free cash flow after high capital spending had pushed it negative in the second quarter, and gross margin rose enough to beat earnings expectations. Shares still fell about 1% by 11:50 a.m. ET because investors are valuing the company on more than its EVs: at a $1.5 trillion market cap, its P/E ratio is very high. CEO Elon Musk said Tesla aims to make 5 million vehicles annually by 2030, while Optimus production has started and Megapack storage is nearly sold out. The article argues that Musk's vision of mass driverless rides would likely need to come true for the stock to move meaningfully higher, and that even merger talk with SpaceX has not been enough to lift it.
- Tesla Falls 4% as Profit Shrinks and Musk Trims Sales Target; Rivian and Lucid Slip
Tesla beat earnings estimates, yet investors are selling the stock, and the reasons extend well beyond a single quarter's results. A shrinking profit, a cut spending plan, a reduced sales target and an unresolved merger question are each pulling the shares in a different direction.
- Elon Musk says Tesla vehicle demand exceeding production ahead of Dallas Cybercab launch
Elon Musk said on Tesla's earnings call that demand for its vehicles is significantly exceeding production, mainly driven by Full Self-Driving, as the company prepares to launch its Cybercab service in Dallas next month. Tesla reported $28.05 billion in third-quarter revenue and 486,532 vehicle deliveries. Musk targets annual production of about 5 million vehicles by 2030, and Tesla aims to start delivering Cybercabs to customers by the end of 2026, though most will stay in its fleet. CFO Vaibhav Taneja raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance to about $20 billion, citing more than $1.5 billion in positive free cash flow and over $45 billion in cash and investments. Tesla is also seeking EU-wide approval for FSD, which Musk said could come within a few months.
- Tesla Q3 earnings preview: 3 key things to watch
Tesla reports third-quarter earnings Wednesday after the close, and Cantor analyst Andres Sheppard highlights three areas to watch: FSD adoption, robotaxi and Cybercab expansion, and progress on the Optimus humanoid robot. As of Q2, Tesla had about 1.48 million FSD subscribers after adding roughly 200,000 in the prior quarter, and the feature has recently expanded across several European markets. Robotaxis operate in about seven US cities, with fewer than 200 Cybercabs in operation, though Elon Musk has said the Cybercab could become Tesla's highest-volume vehicle. Tesla has installed its first Optimus production line with initial capacity of one million robots per year, expects initial deliveries in the second half of next year, starting in factories and warehouses, and the analyst sees Optimus in most American homes in roughly 15 to 20 years.
Related markets
Latest news
- Sweden's Government Offices Block ChatGPT and Claude, Keep Microsoft Copilot
Sweden’s Government Offices will block ChatGPT and Claude on staff computers from October 26, making Microsoft Copilot the only approved AI tool after a dedicated security review, according to Sveriges Radio. Director of digitalisation Mikael Wettercrantz said using AI services without a formal contract can have consequences for information security, citing several problematic uses involving sensitive information. Sweden’s Tax Agency and the National Board of Institutional Care have already imposed similar bans, and the Enforcement Authority is preparing its own decision. Some employees can still reach ChatGPT and Claude through an internal AI platform, though the scope and restrictions have not been disclosed. The article notes that Microsoft added Claude models to Copilot in early 2026, and the government has not confirmed whether that option is switched on in its Copilot instance.
- Strategy, Strive face balancing act between bitcoin buying and preferred stock dividends
Bitcoin treasury companies Strategy (MSTR) and Strive (ASST) must balance funding bitcoin purchases with paying dividends on their perpetual preferred stock, their main fundraising tool, according to Fidelity Digital Assets and analysts. Fidelity says preferred stocks have financed purchases of about 136,000 bitcoin in the 20 months since launch, and estimates the bitcoin-focused preferred market at roughly $12 billion. Bitwise expects ETFs to remain the larger demand source over the long run, while preferreds attract yield investors that ETFs have not reached. As the number of shares grows, dividend payments rise; CoinShares' James Butterfill noted that when preferreds trade below par, new issuance becomes less attractive and companies may favor buybacks over bitcoin purchases. Strategy spent $193 million repurchasing STRC in its latest weekly update and raised its preferred-stock repurchase authorization to $3 billion.
- PC Sales Just Crashed 21% as AI Eats the World’s Memory Chips
Counterpoint Research reported that global PC shipments fell 21% year over year in the third quarter to 57 million units, as higher memory and other component costs pushed up PC prices and constrained demand. Gartner counted 55.4 million units, down 22.4%, and IDC 62.7 million, down 20.1%, while Counterpoint expects a 27% decline in the fourth quarter. HP's shipments fell 31% to 10.3 million, the steepest drop among the major makers, with Dell down 25% to 7.6 million and Lenovo down 23% to 15.0 million. The trackers attribute part of the drop to AI server demand, which TrendForce said would push Q4 conventional DRAM contract prices up 10% to 15% and NAND flash up 15% to 20%, and to a year-ago base inflated by Windows 10 pre-buying and tariff stocking. Counterpoint warned that stabilization should not be mistaken for recovery, and HP's next report is estimated for November 24, 2026, though the company has not confirmed the date.
- American embassies tighten security as Iran threat warnings intensify ahead of U.S. midterm elections
New reports said Iran is in the “advanced stages” of planning attacks against Americans, and a memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, reported by The New York Times, said Iran has “substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel” in the region, with the threats also applying to “certain other countries.” The warnings come as the U.S. ordered non-emergency government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, amid worsening attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis and a broader U.S.-Iran war nearing its eighth month. The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward Taif and Yanbu on Saturday. The Trump administration has vowed to delay military strikes on Iran until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, where inflation and affordability are voters’ top concerns. Oil prices soared, with Brent crude futures topping $116 a barrel, a six-month high, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate rising 3.8% to settle above $103 a barrel.
- Microsoft’s $50 Billion Gamble: Can Microsoft’s Azure Growth Justify Its Exploding AI Budget?
Microsoft reports fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday, October 28, after the close, and the article says the report will show whether Azure growth can keep pace with its AI spending. In the last quarter of fiscal 2026, revenue reached $90.01 billion, up 17.8%, while Azure grew 43% and passed $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time; commercial RPO rose 84% to $678 billion. Costs rose just as fast: quarterly capex hit $41 billion, and free cash flow fell 23.19% to $19.6 billion. Management guided first-quarter capex above $50 billion including lease reclassification, and expects Azure growth of about 45% in constant currency. The article also highlights Microsoft 365 Copilot passing 30 million paid seats and RPO rising 25% excluding OpenAI.
- The $500 Billion Question: Can Google Cloud’s Massive AI Backlog Outrun Its Mind-Boggling CapEx Boom on Oct. 28?
Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) reports third-quarter results after the close on Wednesday, October 28. Google Cloud’s backlog stands at $514 billion, and its 2026 CapEx guidance is $195–205 billion. Last quarter, Google Cloud revenue rose 82% to $24.77 billion and its operating margin widened to 35.6% from 20.7%, but CapEx rose 100% to $44.92 billion and free cash flow was negative $5.86 billion, the first time ever. To fund the spending, Alphabet raised about $70 billion in equity and debt and suspended buybacks. The article says the key question is how quickly the backlog turns into revenue and cash as CapEx keeps rising.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.