Tesla’s third quarter net income fell 43 percent to $787 million, from $1.37 billion a year earlier, on revenue of $28.04 billion that was flat year on year, the company reported after the close on Wednesday. Non-GAAP earnings of $0.48 per share beat the $0.45 consensus, but operating income fell 56 percent to $718 million as operating expenses rose 39 percent, with research and development up 69 percent on AI, Optimus and the Cybercab, and capital spending more than doubled to $4.73 billion.
The company delivered 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, down 2.1 percent from a year earlier, with automotive revenue flat at about $20 billion and regulatory credit revenue down to $113 million from $417 million. Tesla also said production of its Optimus humanoid robot has started at its Fremont, California factory, calling the first units off the line its first production-quality bots, while energy storage and generation revenue fell 16 percent to about $2.8 billion, which it blamed in part on tariff-related customer refunds.