Business & Finance
Tesla third-quarter net profit falls 43% on flat revenue
Deliveries beat analyst consensus, but energy storage missed forecasts and capital spending more than doubled.
The short version
- Tesla reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $28 billion, nearly flat from a year earlier.[Ars Technica]
- Net profit fell 43% to $787 million as operating expenses rose 39% and the operating margin narrowed to 2.6%.[Ars Technica]
- Automotive revenue fell 3% and solar and storage revenue fell 16% year over year.[Ars Technica]
- Free cash flow fell 62% and capital spending rose 110%, while storage deployments of 13.7 GWh missed analyst expectations.[Electrek · Ars Technica]
Key facts
- Tesla reported Q3 2026 revenue of $28 billion, almost unchanged from 2025.[Ars Technica]
- Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3 2026, down 2.1% year over year but above a 461,974 analyst consensus.[Electrek]
- Tesla built 464,391 vehicles in Q3 2026.[Electrek]
- Net profit fell 43% year over year to $787 million.[Ars Technica]
- Operating expenses rose 39% to $4.8 billion, lowering the operating margin to 2.6% from 5.8%.[Ars Technica]
- Automotive revenue fell 3% to $20.6 billion, and solar and storage revenue fell 16% to $2.9 billion.[Ars Technica]
- Energy storage deployments reached 13.7 GWh, up 9.6% year over year but short of roughly 15.9 GWh analyst expectations.[Electrek]
- Capital expenditures rose 110% to $4.7 billion, and free cash flow fell 62% to $1.5 billion.[Ars Technica]
What remains uncertain
- The consensus delivery and storage figures cited are pre-report analyst estimates, not reported results.[Electrek]
- The provided reporting does not explain the causes of the declines in profit, margin, and free cash flow.[Ars Technica]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.