Tesla reported on Oct 21, 2026. All figures below are for the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026, from Tesla's Third Quarter 2026 Update, filed with the SEC the same day. Numbers we worked out ourselves are marked "our math."
The headline numbers
| Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $28.05B | $28.10B | 0% |
| Automotive revenue | $20.56B | $21.21B | −3% |
| Energy generation and storage | $2.88B | $3.42B | −16% |
| Services and other | $4.61B | $3.48B | +33% |
| GAAP gross margin | 19.6% | 18.0% | +160bp |
| Operating margin | 2.6% | 5.8% | −322bp |
| GAAP net income | $787M | $1.37B | −43% |
| Non-GAAP net income | $1.70B | $1.77B | −4% |
| Diluted EPS, GAAP / non-GAAP | $0.22 / $0.48 | $0.39 / $0.50 |
Gross margin improved, but operating expenses rose 39% to $4.78B, so income from operations fell 56% to $718M.
Cash and capex
- Operating cash flow: $6.26B (flat YoY)
- Capex: $4.73B (up 110% YoY)
- Free cash flow: $1.53B (down 62%)
- Cash, equivalents and short-term investments: $45.45B, up $1.9B in the quarter
Through the first nine months of 2026, capex was about $13.0B (our math: $2.49B + $5.79B + $4.73B). Tesla says it continues "to invest in the future through R&D and Capex spend across our businesses, including SI, robotics and energy." That fits the broader pattern in our AI capex math.
Cars
- Deliveries: 486,532, down 2% YoY
- Production: 464,391, up 4%
- Inventory: 11 days of supply
Tesla said battery availability "continued to be the limiting factor in increasing auto volumes in the quarter" and that it ended with its largest passenger-vehicle backlog in four years. It also reported 1.74 million active FSD subscriptions, up 67%, and said FSD (Supervised) attach rates in North America passed 75% of new deliveries.
Energy and new products
Storage deployed rose 10% to 13.7 GWh, even as energy revenue fell 16%. Tesla said Megafactory Texas began production with planned capacity of 50 GWh, and that energy storage demand is increasingly tied to data-center power needs (for context, see AI data centres and the power grid).
Other updates Tesla listed:
- Robotaxi rides using Cybercabs started Sept 3 in Austin.
- Tesla Semi volume production began in Nevada.
- Optimus production began on high-volume lines in Fremont.
What to watch next
The quarter showed a company spending heavily while its core car business stays flat. Watch capex, the operating-expense trend, and whether battery supply loosens. It's one of the Magnificent 7 reports feeding the S&P 500's Q3 earnings picture. Next up are Big Tech's reports next week.
