Tesla Q3 2026 earnings preview: flat revenue, lower profit
Tesla expects Q3 revenue to match last year while earnings per share drop 10%.
21 Oct 2026 0 reads Compiled with AI
Tesla will report Q3 2026 financials tomorrow after market close. The earnings call is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET. Wall Street expects revenue to stay flat at about $28.1 billion, and earnings per share to fall 10% from the previous year, despite a delivery beat.
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3, 2.1% below its record 497,099 in Q3 2025. However, it delivered 22,141 more cars than it built, reducing inventory. The Model 3 and Model Y made up 478,237 of those deliveries, while other models fell 48 % to 8,295 units. Energy storage deployment rose 9.6 % to 13.7 GWh, but was below the 15.9 GWh analysts expected.
Earnings per share are projected at $0.45, down 10% from $0.50 in Q3 2025. Operating income fell 57 % to $398 million, while operating expenses rose 47 % to $4.35 billion. Free cash flow was negative $1.09 billion in Q2, with capital expenditures more than doubling to $5.8 billion. Tesla’s guidance calls for over $25 billion in capex for 2026, largely for AI, robotics, and vehicle software.