Tesla Third-Quarter Earnings Top Views as Automotive, Energy Generation Sales Decline

04:58 PM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Tesla (TSLA) reported better-than-expected third-quarter adjusted earnings, while revenue slipped due to weakness in the automotive and energy generation divisions. The electric vehicle manufacturer reported adjusted earnings of $0.48 per share for the September quarter, down from $0.50 the year before, it said late Wednesday. The consensus on FactSet was for non-GAAP EPS of $0.45. Revenue fell to $28.05 billion from $28.1 billion in the prior-year quarter, narrowly missing the Street's view for $28.06 billion. Reduced vehicle selling prices and lower deliveries year on year weighed on the top-line. Earlier this month, Tesla said it delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter, down from 497,099 in the same period last year. Automotive revenue declined 3% to $20.56 billion. "We ended the quarter with the largest backlog for our passenger vehicles in four years," Tesla said. "While battery availability continued to be the limiting factor in increasing auto volumes in the quarter, we have made additional progress in securing future supply." Energy generation and storage revenue slid 16% to $2.88 billion, while services and other revenue jumped 33% to $4.61 billion. The company's stock rose 1.1% in after-hours trading and was down 14% this year through Wednesday close. Tesla's capital expenditures more than doubled year-over-year to $4.73 billion. "We continue to invest in the future through (research and development) and capex spend across our businesses, including (super intelligence), robotics and energy," Tesla said. President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use the term "super intelligence" instead of "artificial intelligence." Oppenheimer expected Tesla to continue pushing aggressively on capex "as it moves toward increased vertical integration and show improving margins on strong EV sales and manufacturing efficiencies." Elon Musk, who heads both Tesla and SpaceX (SPCX), said late Tuesday that both companies have formed special committees to evaluate a potential merger. Last week, Tesla unveiled its new Roadster vehicle, which uses SpaceX thrusters to propel itself in the air. "While the engineering on the new Roadster is a obvious reminder that (Tesla and SpaceX) continue to be the preeminent engineering platforms in their sectors, we believe investors are more focused on the performance of its incremental Cybercab deployments in Austin, (Texas) since the beginning of October and progress on (Full Self-Driving) v15 as signals of autonomous vehicle dominance," Oppenheimer said in a note Monday. Tesla started providing Robotaxi rides using Cybercabs on Sept. 3 in Austin, the company said Wednesday, adding that cumulative unsupervised Robotaxi miles grew eightfold quarter over quarter. General Motors (GM) narrowed its 2026 profit guidance Tuesday and posted a third-quarter beat. Ford Motor (F) is scheduled to report earnings Oct. 28.