Earnings & the stock
Flat revenue, shrinking profit, a rebounding margin and the biggest R&D budget in the company’s history. The numbers, quarter by quarter.
Q3 2026
Revenue of $28.05 billion was flat against $28.1B a year earlier. GAAP net income fell 43% to $787M (including a $288M unrealized gain on bitcoin and a $142M loss on the SpaceX stake); non-GAAP EPS of $0.48 beat the $0.45 consensus. Gross margin recovered to 19.6% and automotive margin excluding credits to 18.1%. Operating expenses rose 39%, with R&D up 69% to $2.76B on Optimus, Cybercab and compute. Regulatory credits collapsed to $113M from $417M. Capex was $4.73B; 2026 capex guidance was trimmed to about $20B, and Tesla arranged up to $30B of credit lines it says it won't draw this year. Inventory fell to 11 days. Electrek
The stock fell about 3% the next day. Musk restated a goal of roughly 5 million vehicles a year by about 2030.
Quarter by quarter
| Revenue | GAAP net income | Gross margin | Free cash flow | Deliveries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | $24.9B | $840M | 20.1% | — | 418,227 |
| FY 2025 | $94.8B (−3%) | $3.8B (−46%) | 18.0% | $6.2B | 1,636,129 |
| Q1 2026 | $22.39B (+16%) | $0.48B | 21.1% | $1.44B | 358,023 |
| Q2 2026 | $28.24B (+26%, record) | $1.11B | 16.8% | −$1.09B | 480,126 |
| Q3 2026 | $28.05B (flat) | $787M (−43%) | 19.6% | $1.53B | 486,532 |
2025 was Tesla's first full-year revenue decline. Automotive revenue fell 10% while energy rose 27% and services 19%.
The stock
TSLA closed 2025 at $449.72. It traded roughly $370–410 in October 2026 (close $404.22 on Oct 28; 52-week range $297.38–$498.83), for a market value of about $1.55–1.60 trillion — up about 7% over a year. About 3.95 billion shares are outstanding; Musk owns roughly 20% after exercising his 2018 options on June 16, 2026. Electrek on the 2026 proxy Nothing here is investment advice.
The pay packages and governance
The 2025 CEO Performance Award — 423.7 million restricted shares in twelve tranches tied to market-cap milestones from $2T to $8.5T plus operational goals (20M cumulative vehicles, 10M FSD subscriptions, 1M Optimus robots, 1M robotaxis, up to $400B EBITDA) — was approved on November 6, 2025 with more than 75% of votes cast, over opposition from ISS and Norway's sovereign fund. Grant-date value: up to ~$878B, rounded by everyone to “$1 trillion.” CNBC
The 2018 package, rescinded by Delaware's Chancery Court in January 2024, was fully restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on December 19, 2025 (“Vindicated,” Musk posted). He exercised the ~304 million options on June 16, 2026 at $23.34, worth about $116B. A separate 96-million-share interim award was forfeited in April 2026. Musk's reported 2025 pay: $158.4B, almost all unrealized; realized compensation $0; pay ratio 2,522,203 to 1.
Tesla is now a Texas corporation (reincorporated after a June 2024 vote). The 2026 annual meeting is December 3 at Giga Texas: re-election of Musk, Robyn Denholm and JB Straubel, say-on-pay and auditor ratification. No merger proposal is on the ballot.