Tesla (TSLA) reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, with its free cash flow and capital spending above Wall Street estimates. Tesla reported third-quarter revenue of $28.05 billion versus the Bloomberg consensus of $28.13 billion. Tesla reported adjusted EPS of $0.48 vs. estimate of $0.44, with adjusted EBITDA of $3.9 billion vs. $3.66 billion. Tesla shares were volatile in after-hours trading. 386.47 +12.76 (+3.41%) At Close: Oct 21 at 4:00:00 pm EDT 375.32 -11.15 (-2.89%) Overnight: 8:14:33 pm EDT Tesla reported free cash flow of $1.53 billion versus an estimate -$4.92 billion, with capital expenditures rising to $ 4.732 billion versus an estimated $7.96 billion for the quarter. On the earnings conference call, Tesla updated its full-year capital spending guidance to $20 billion from $25 billion previously. Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said the savings would come from “managing our capital deployment efficiently and planning to finance [capex] primarily from our cash flows from operations,” he said. “I think capex is actually ending up being a little bit lower than we anticipated, but we’ll start to become more significant next year. And then it will show up in the tens of billions in 28,” CEO Elon Musk said on the call. The money will go toward Optimus production lines, AI computing, the Cybercab ramp and the Terafab chip plant that Tesla is building with SpaceX. Tesla revealed that its Optimus robot has begun production at its Fremont factory. “While we will continue to iterate on the hardware and manufacturing process, we have demonstrated that the current Optimus manufacturing process is adequate for a product trading,” the company said in its earnings release. The Optimus robot walks during an off-site appearance at the Nasdaq Market in New York City, U.S., October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid · REUTERS / REUTERS “I would expect it will probably take us at least a year, maybe a little longer, to get to that annualized rate [1 million units]to get to 20,000 units per week,” Musk said on the earnings call. Musk added that Tesla could release a demo video of Optimus in about a month, emphasizing that he didn’t want the robot’s movements to be planned in advance. As for its other AI efforts, Tesla said it plans to reach 400 MW of AI training compute by the end of the year. Tesla said its active FSD (fully self-driving) subscriptions increased to 1.74 million. “The “The biggest driver of demand is fully autonomous driving,” Musk said regarding vehicle sales. “The Cybercab fleet in Austin has grown 10-fold,” Musk added while talking about Tesla’s robotaxi fleet. He added: “I don’t think there is any company in the world that can match our scale with autonomous vehicles.” he said during SpaceX’s earnings conference call Tuesday night “At the request of shareholders, and these special committees are made up of independent directors. And because I’m a conflicting party, I can’t actually be in the special committee discussions.” A Tesla Cybercab is parked near the White House, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) · AP Photo/Alex Brandon He added: “I don’t think we should necessarily assume that I think some people assume that a SpaceX and Tesla merger is a certainty. And I think that would be overstating it. Do I think that would be a good idea? Yes.” On the Tesla call, Musk briefly mentioned it, but didn’t add anything new. “Regarding a possible merger with SpaceX, I think I said everything that should be said yesterday. [Tuesday]” Musk said. Tesla reported third-quarter deliveries of 486,532, down 2% from a year ago but well above the Bloomberg consensus of 463,000. Energy storage deployments reached 13.7 GWh, up from 12.5 GWh a year ago and 13.5 GWh in the second quarter. Tesla began commercial Cybercab service in Austin on Sept. 3, but federal regulators have questions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a special order to Tesla with 21 requests for how it self-certified the Cybercab, which has no steering wheel or pedals, as compliant with federal safety standards. Tesla instead requested an extension until November 20, so the answers were due on October 30. a next-generation version of its original electric sports car, at a launch event in Waco, Texas, United States, on October 15, 2026. (Tesla/Handout via Reuters/File Photo) · Reuters / REUTERS Tesla also finally revealed its long-delayed Roadster last Thursday at the SpaceX (SPCX) facility in Waco, Texas. The car used cold gas thrusters to jump over several Teslas, including a Semi Tesla said. It reached 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds in a test at the event, and Musk said production begins in 2028. Deepwater’s Gene Munster called it an “engineering flexibility” with little commercial value, and Morningstar expects the Roadster to sell fewer than 2,000 units a year. Pras Subramanian is Yahoo Finance’s chief auto reporter. You can follow him on X and Instagram. in-depth, including the events moving stocks. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance.
