Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), the electric vehicle and energy storage maker, reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.48 a share after the US close today, ahead of the $0.45 consensus on Yahoo Finance. The shares were up 1.3% in post-market trading at the time of writing.
The stock had closed the regular session at $386.47, up 3.4%, before the figures appeared. Tesla posted its update a day after Elon Musk said on a SpaceX call that there was “a lot of merit to combining the companies”. Both boards have formed special committees, with no terms agreed.
Tesla’s revenue was $28.05bn, flat on $28.10bn a year earlier and slightly below the consensus of $28.25bn. Adjusted earnings, which strip out certain items, fell from $0.50 a year ago. GAAP earnings per share, the figure under standard accounting rules, were $0.22 against $0.39.
Tesla said battery supply held back vehicle sales, with deliveries down 2.1% to 486,532.
battery availability continued to be the limiting factor in increasing auto volumes in the quarter
Tesla Q3 2026 update
Margins recovered. Total gross margin was 19.6%, against 16.8% in the second quarter and 18.0% a year ago, while automotive margin excluding regulatory credits, payments from rivals to meet emissions rules, reached 18.1%. Those credits brought in $113m, down from $417m.
Operating income still fell 56% to $718m, from $1.62bn, as research and development spending rose 69% to $2.76bn. Tesla pointed to Super Intelligence, its name for its AI programme, other R&D projects, stock compensation and administrative costs.
Capital spending, on factories, equipment and data centres, was $4.73bn, up from $2.25bn a year ago. Free cash flow, operating cash minus that spending, turned positive at $1.53bn after minus $1.09bn in the second quarter, though it was $3.99bn a year ago.
The reaction follows a second-quarter miss, when Tesla earned $0.33 a share against an estimate of $0.54. Options had priced a 5.4% post-earnings move, against a median actual move of about 10% since 2023.
Tesla gives no sales or profit forecast. Its earnings call is due at 5:30pm ET (10:30pm UK time).