Tesla Q3 financial report: Revenue remains flat year-on-year, net profit down 43%, operating expenses surged 39%

Tesla announced its third-quarter performance for 2026. The quarterly revenue was $28.046 billion, essentially flat year-on-year; the net profit attributable to common shareholders was $787 million, a decrease of about 43% year-on-year. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.22, down from $0.39 in the same period last year. Operating profit decreased by about 56% year-on-year to $718 million, with an operating profit margin of 2.6%, down 3.2 percentage points year-on-year. The company stated that increased R&D and other operating expenses, reduced regulatory credit income, and declining gross margins in the energy business put pressure on operating profit, with operating expenses rising by about 39%.

Overall GAAP gross margin rose to 19.6%, an increase of about 1.6 percentage points year-on-year, and also higher than the previous quarter. The automotive gross margin, excluding regulatory credits, was about 18.1%, improving compared to the previous quarter and the same period last year. The number of vehicle deliveries for the quarter was 486,500, a decrease of 2% year-on-year; production was 464,400 vehicles, an increase of 4% year-on-year. Revenue from the automotive business decreased by about 3% year-on-year, while revenue from energy generation and storage decreased by about 16%, and service and other revenue grew by about 33%.

Operating cash flow for the third quarter was $6.263 billion, and free cash flow was $1.531 billion, down from $3.990 billion in the same period last year. The company stated that battery supply continues to limit the increase in vehicle production; mass production of the Semi has started in Nevada, and production of Optimus has begun in Fremont, while Cybercab has been put into operation in the Austin Robotaxi fleet. According to BIT market data, SPCX fell 3.32% in after-hours trading.