Tesla fell 3.3 percent after hours to $373.65 despite a $0.48 beat, 18.1 percent auto margin and $1.53bn free cash flow. Robotaxi dates slip. Levels $347, $400.
Tesla fell 3.3 percent after hours to $373.65 despite a $0.48 beat, 18.1 percent auto margin and $1.53bn free cash flow.
Robotaxi dates slip.
Tesla Stock After Q3: Bull and Bear Case as a $0.48 Beat and $1.5 Billion of Free Cash Flow Meet 2027 Timelines
Updated 22 October 2026. Tesla (TSLA) closed at $386.47 on Wednesday 21 October, up 3.41 percent, then fell to $373.65 in after-hours trading at 19:59 ET, down 3.32 percent, after Q3 results that beat on earnings and cash flow but showed operating income down 56 percent (StockAnalysis, Electrek). Non-GAAP EPS was $0.48 against $0.45 expected, revenue $28.05 billion was flat, auto gross margin ex-credits rose to 18.1 percent and free cash flow swung to $1.53 billion from minus $1.09 billion. On the call Musk said the Austin Cybercab fleet is up tenfold in a month, Dallas launches next month, Optimus deliveries to outside companies come around the end of 2027, and the CFO cut 2026 capex guidance to about $20 billion (Investing.com transcript). Verdict: the quarter fixed margins and cash; the stock gave back Wednesday’s gain because the timelines moved out. Reference levels: $347 below, $400 above.
Price: close $386.47, up $12.76, range $380.51-$388.84; after hours $373.65, down $12.82 or 3.32 percent, at 19:59 ET (StockAnalysis). Investing.com’s earlier snapshot had $377.88, down 2.22 percent. Market cap $1.53 trillion. 52-week range $297.38-$498.83.
Headline numbers: revenue $28.05 billion, flat on $28.1 billion a year ago, versus $28.06 billion consensus; non-GAAP EPS $0.48 versus $0.45 expected and $0.50 a year ago; GAAP EPS $0.22, GAAP net income $787 million, down 43 percent (Electrek, 21 October).
Margins: total gross margin 19.6 percent (Q2 16.8 percent); auto gross margin ex-credits 18.1 percent (Q2 16.3 percent, year ago 15.4 percent); operating income $718 million, down 56 percent, operating margin 2.6 percent (year ago 5.8 percent). Operating expenses up 39 percent to $4.78 billion, R&D up 69 percent to $2.76 billion, stock-based compensation $1.17 billion (Electrek).
Cash: free cash flow $1.53 billion (Q2 minus $1.09 billion, year ago $3.99 billion); capex $4.73 billion in the quarter, $13.01 billion year to date; cash and investments $45.4 billion. CFO Vaibhav Taneja said 2026 capex guidance is now about $20 billion, funded mainly from operating cash flow, against the “more than $25 billion” in the Q2 letter; Tesla has up to $30 billion of borrowing capacity it does not plan to draw this year (Investing.com, Electrek).
Segments: energy revenue $2.88 billion, down 16 percent on tariff-related refunds, but energy gross margin 33 percent (Q2 20 percent); services $4.61 billion, up 33 percent, record $734 million gross profit; regulatory credits $113 million versus $417 million a year ago. Deliveries 486,532, inventory down to 11 days from 15. Active FSD subscriptions 1.74 million, up 67 percent. Non-operating items: a $288 million unrealised gain on bitcoin and a $142 million unrealised loss on the SpaceX stake (Electrek).
Call timelines: Cybercab fleet in Austin up “by a factor of 10 since launch about a month ago” (Musk); Dallas next month and six cities operating with 24/7 service targeted by year-end (Ashok Elluswamy); Cybercab customer availability end of 2026 (Lars Moravy); first customer vehicles joining the Robotaxi fleet unsupervised around Q2 2027; Robotaxi revenue “noticeable” in Q2 2027 and significant by Q3 or Q4; Optimus at 20,000 a week “probably at least a year, maybe a little longer,” external deliveries around end-2027; Megapacks “almost sold out” for 2027; the $0.30 per paid mile target not yet reached (Investing.com transcript).
Averytin News Financial update.