Tesla has released its Q3 2026 financial results, reporting revenue of $28.0 billion (C$39.4 billion), roughly flat from a year earlier, after delivering 486,532 vehicles in the quarter. Profitability took a significant hit, with GAAP net income falling 43% to $787 million (C$1.1 billion).
GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.22, down from $0.39, while non-GAAP EPS was $0.48, compared with $0.50 a year ago. Non-GAAP net income was $1.7 billion (C$2.4 billion).
Tesla faced similar challenges last year. In Q3 2025, the company reported record revenue alongside declining profits, highlighting the growing cost of its expansion beyond electric vehicles.
Automotive Revenue Dips, Services Grow
For Q3 2026, automotive revenue declined 3% to $20.6 billion (C$28.9 billion), with regulatory credit revenue falling to $113 million from $417 million. Energy generation and storage revenue fell 16% to $2.9 billion (C$4.0 billion), which Tesla says was partially due to tariff-related customer refunds. Services and other revenue was a bright spot, increasing 33% to $4.6 billion (C$6.5 billion).
Operating expenses climbed 39% to $4.8 billion, driven by SI (superintelligence) and other R&D projects, stock-based compensation and SG&A, pushing operating income down 56% to $718 million (C$1.0 billion). Tesla’s overall GAAP gross margin improved to 19.6%, up from 18.0% a year earlier and 16.8% in Q2.
Operating cash flow was $6.3 billion (C$8.8 billion), while capital expenditures more than doubled to $4.7 billion. Free cash flow reached $1.5 billion (C$2.2 billion), down 62% year-over-year, and Tesla ended the quarter with $45.4 billion (C$63.9 billion) in cash, cash equivalents and investments.
Deliveries, Storage and FSD
Tesla produced 464,391 vehicles and delivered 486,532, down 2% year-over-year, with record quarterly deliveries in several markets, including Canada. Energy storage deployments climbed 10% to 13.7 GWh.
Tesla Deliveries and Energy Storage Deployments
Vehicle deliveries (units)
Energy storage deployed (GWh)
Source: Tesla Q3 2026 Update. Bar scales: 0–500,000 vehicles; 0–15 GWh.
Active Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscriptions, which Tesla says include upfront purchases and monthly subscriptions, reached 1.74 million, up 67% year-over-year. Tesla says FSD (Supervised) is now attached to over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America.
Cybercab, Semi, Optimus and More
“We started providing Robotaxi rides using Cybercabs on September 3 in Austin,” Tesla wrote, adding that it “reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter.”
Meanwhile, Tesla says it has begun volume production of Tesla Semi in Nevada, and that Optimus production has begun on high-volume lines in Fremont, with the first production-quality bots. Tesla also notes it unveiled the Next Gen Roadster on October 15.
On the compute side, Tesla plans to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by year-end. Its Megafactory Texas has also begun production, with a planned capacity of 50 GWh.
Looking ahead, Tesla says it is “focused on maximum capacity utilization at our factories” and expects hardware profits to be accompanied over time by an acceleration of SI, software and fleet-based profits. However, the company did not provide numeric delivery or financial guidance in its Q3 2026 Update.
Related Articles:
- Tesla beats expectations with 486,532 deliveries in Q3 2026
- Tesla Reports Record Revenue but Falling Profits in Q3 2025
- Tesla Semi high-volume production slips to 2027
- Tesla makes progress converting former Model S/X line for Optimus production
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