Understand this story
On October 22, 2026, Tesla released its third-quarter financial report. According to a Huxiu report the same day, the company delivered 486,500 vehicles in the quarter, down 2.1% year over year; revenue was $28.05 billion, flat compared with the same period last year; operating profit fell to $720 million, while R&D expenses rose 69% to $2.76 billion. The same report also said that Musk confirmed the boards of Tesla and SpaceX have each established a special committee to evaluate a merger, with the two companies valued at a combined approximately $3.5 trillion, and the transaction requires approval by more than half of Tesla shareholders. On the same day, 36Kr·AI reported that Tesla, in its business update report, confirmed for the first time that Optimus has begun production on a high-volume production line at the Fremont factory, with the first batch of products meeting mass-production quality rolling off the line; on the earnings call, Musk said that reaching a rate of 20,000 units per week, or an annualized one million units, will take at least a year or even longer, with external deliveries set for around the end of 2027, initially only for industrial scenarios. The financial report has now been released, and subsequent developments will be subject to these disclosures.
AI-generated from public reports
Latest development · Report
Tesla Optimus mass production postponed to end of 2027, will build a 20,000-robot training clusterDevelopments
1 confirmed developments
- Source:36Kr · AI
Reports and discussion timeline
Browse reports and discussion by time. Their evidence levels remain distinct.
Oct 26
36Kr · AI
Tesla Optimus mass production postponed to end of 2027, will build a 20,000-robot training cluster
Tesla confirmed on its Q3 2026 earnings call that mass production of Optimus is postponed to around the end of 2027; the 10,000 to 20,000 Optimus units produced earlier will be for Tesla's own use only. These robots will enter the under-construction Optimus Academy for autonomous practice and data collection, at an investment of about RMB 14 billion. The core reason for the delay is insufficient durability of the dexterous hands, which currently wear out after about one month of use; the AI5 chip is expected to be installed on Optimus around April 2027.
Oct 23
Sina Tech
Under the catalyst of Nvidia GTC and Tesla's earnings, the A-share AI narrative welcomes a window for industrial verification
Nvidia's GTC Berlin conference and Tesla's third-quarter earnings call landed at the same time, and the Wind Artificial Intelligence Concept Index has cumulatively risen more than 2% since October 19. Nvidia launched the DSX POD reference design, saying that the deployment cycle for AI factories is expected to be shortened from about six months to 14 days, and released the Agile ONE SN humanoid robot reference platform with 31 degrees of freedom, which is expected to be launched in 2027. Analysts believe that whether the market can shift from event-driven to fundamentals-driven still depends on order visibility and the progress of scenario fulfillment.
Oct 22
Jiwei.com
Tesla Q3 earnings call: seeking FSD approval in China, Optimus begins early production
Tesla's total revenue for the third quarter of 2026 was $28.046 billion, essentially flat compared with the same period last year, while net profit was $787 million, down 43% year over year. Musk said on the call that the company is making every effort to push for FSD approval in more markets and hopes to obtain EU-wide approval in the first quarter of 2027, while CFO Taneja said the company is working hard to secure FSD approval in China. Tesla has begun early production of Optimus at its Fremont factory in California; Musk said it may take a year or slightly longer to reach a production rate of 20,000 units per week, and the company plans to integrate the AI5 chip into the robot before April next year.
36Kr · AI
Tesla's Q3 profit plunges 40%, Musk doubles down on AI and robotics investment
In Q3 2026, Tesla's GAAP net income was $787 million, down 43% year-over-year; operating income was $718 million, down 56% year-over-year; and operating margin fell from 5.8% to 2.6%. The main reasons were R&D expenses rising 69% to $2.76 billion and capital expenditures increasing 110% to $4.732 billion, with funds directed toward AI, the Optimus humanoid robot, and the Cybercab robotaxi. FSD's global active paid users reached 1.74 million, and Robotaxi's cumulative unsupervised driving mileage approached 2 million miles. Musk said that Robotaxi's actual contribution to financial reports will not become apparent until after the second quarter of 2027.
East Money
How to Hedge Against AI Risks? ICBC and CCB Both Hit Record Highs | Equity Market Daily
CICC proposes using dividend assets as a foundation and increasing allocations to high-dividend stocks and gold to hedge against AI volatility, while Huatai Securities believes value strategies are still expected to outperform the CSI 800. ICBC and CCB share prices hit record highs again, with the banking sector driven by the launch of interim dividends and passive fund inflows; in 1H26, listed banks' revenue and net profit attributable to parent company grew 7.4% and 3.0% year-on-year. Nvidia upgraded its Isaac general-purpose robot development platform, and Tesla's Optimus plans to install AI5 chips in April next year and begin external deliveries by the end of the year.
36Kr · AISelected
The first batch of mass-produced Tesla Optimus robots rolls off the line; Musk says reaching 20,000 units per week will take another year
In its business update report, Tesla confirmed for the first time that Optimus has begun production on a high-volume production line at the Fremont factory, and what rolled off the line is the first batch of products with mass-production quality. On the earnings call, Musk said that reaching a rate of 20,000 units per week and an annualized one million units will take at least another year or even longer; the external delivery timing is set around the end of 2027, and initially only industrial scenarios will be pursued. He also mentioned that the hand design has not yet been finalized, training data is accumulated through robots playing against themselves, AI5 is planned to be integrated into the robots in April next year, and its computing power is about an order of magnitude higher than AI4.
QbitAI
Tesla's Q3 operating profit falls 56%, FSD paying users reach 1.74 million
Tesla's operating profit for the third quarter of 2026 was $718 million, down 56% year over year, with the operating margin falling to 2.6%, even as overall gross profit rose 9% year over year to $5.494 billion. Global active paying FSD users reached 1.74 million, up 67% year over year, with the share of monthly subscriptions exceeding 50% for the first time; Robotaxi's cumulative unsupervised driving mileage is approaching 2 million miles. On the earnings call, Musk said he is pushing for FSD to obtain broader licensing in the Chinese market, and said he plans to have the first batch of private vehicles join the Robotaxi fleet around the second quarter of 2027.
Huxiu
Tesla's Q3 operating profit halves to $720 million; Musk leans on SpaceX merger to support valuation
Tesla delivered 486,500 vehicles in Q3 2026, down 2.1% year-on-year, with revenue flat at $28.05 billion, operating profit halved to $720 million, and R&D expenses up 69% to $2.76 billion. Musk confirmed that the Tesla and SpaceX boards have each established special committees to evaluate a merger, with the two companies valued at a combined approximately $3.5 trillion; the deal requires approval from more than half of Tesla shareholders. BYD's pure electric sales in the first three quarters were 1.63 million vehicles, leading Tesla by more than 300,000, with automotive gross margin of 22.3%, higher than Tesla's 18.1% excluding carbon credits.
Cailian Press
Wang Xingxing and Jensen Huang Discuss Physical AI, Robots Become a Key Deployment Scenario
At the 2026 World Physical AI Conference and Unitree Partner Ecosystem Conference, Unitree Technology founder Wang Xingxing said that with the release of GPT-6, physical AI has shown signs of being cracked open, and that the core challenge for embodied intelligence to pass the ChatGPT moment is aligning the input and output of AI models with real robots; robots will reach commercial services faster than in the home and industrial sectors. At GTC Berlin, Jensen Huang said AI factory deployment can be shortened to as fast as 14 days and that physical AI will accelerate its deployment; on Tesla's earnings call, Musk predicted that Optimus could be delivered to companies other than Tesla by the end of next year. Open Source Securities said Optimus has entered the mass production stage, with upstream core components expected to reach a supply capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 robots per week by the end of October 2026.
East Money
Wang Xingxing and Jensen Huang Speak Out Together: Physical AI Is on the Eve of an Explosion, Robotics Becomes a Key Deployment Scenario
At the 2026 World Physical AI Conference and Unitree Partner Ecosystem Conference, Unitree Technology founder Wang Xingxing said that with the release of GPT-6, physical AI has shown signs of being broken through, and the ChatGPT moment for embodied intelligence may arrive in the next 1-2 or 2-3 years, with the core challenge being the alignment between AI model inputs and outputs and real robots. At GTC Berlin, Jensen Huang said AI factory deployment could be shortened to as fast as 14 days, and physical AI will accelerate its deployment. Open Source Securities expects that by the end of October 2026, Optimus's upstream core components will reach a weekly production capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 robots, and that a conservative full-year volume of 100,000 units will be achieved in 2027.
Sina Tech
Musk: The number of humanoid robots will exceed that of humans, and the entire sector will become the world's largest industry
Tesla CEO Musk said at the earnings call that the entire humanoid robot sector will become the world's largest industry, and in the future the number of humanoid robots on Earth may even exceed the number of humans. Optimus has begun production on the high-volume production line at the Fremont factory, which is planned to have an annual capacity of 1 million units, while the second production line in Texas has a long-term design annual capacity of 10 million units. Musk said Optimus is expected to be supplied externally only after remaining design, reliability, and service life issues are resolved by the end of 2027.
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Tesla Optimus Fremont Production Line Enters Early Ramp-Up
In its Q3 2026 earnings report, Tesla disclosed that Optimus has begun production on a new line at its Fremont, California factory, with the project status changed from "under construction" to "early ramp-up," while the Texas project remains in the construction phase. On the earnings call, Musk said the initial ramp-up will be slow, that reaching a capacity of 20,000 units per week will take at least a year or even longer, and that he expects deliveries to companies other than Tesla around the end of 2027. Tesla also plans to raise its training compute to 400 megawatts by the end of the year.
Shanghai Observer
Tesla Reveals Optimus Timeline: Fremont Production Line with Annual Capacity of One Million Units Has Begun Production, External Deliveries Possible by End of Next Year
In its Q3 2026 financial report, Tesla stated that Optimus has begun production on a high-volume production line at the Fremont factory, which is planned to have an annual capacity of 1 million units, while the second production line at the Texas Gigafactory has a long-term designed annual capacity of 10 million units. Musk said on the call that most of the production line has been implemented, but reaching a rate of 20,000 units per week will still take at least a year or longer, and he expects Optimus may be delivered to companies other than Tesla around the end of next year. He also said Optimus will be equipped with the AI5 chip around April next year, with computing power roughly an order of magnitude higher than AI4, and plans to release a demonstration video of non-preprogrammed operation within one or two months.
IT Home · Artificial Intelligence
Reuters: Tesla's AI transition under pressure, 2026 full-year spending target cut by about 20%
Reuters, citing Tesla's third-quarter financial report, reported that Tesla's capital expenditure for the quarter was $4.73 billion, below market expectations of about $7.7 billion to $7.95 billion, and that it lowered its full-year 2026 capital expenditure target from more than $25 billion to about $20 billion, a reduction of about 20%. On the earnings call, Musk acknowledged that Optimus still faces challenges including the supply chain, training data, and robotic hand design, and that the related issues may not be resolved until the end of 2027, after which it will take about another year to deliver to customers.
Yicai
Tech stocks rally, Dow jumps over 300 points; Musk ignites AI trade, Meta earnings lift shares over 3% after hours
U.S. stocks rose across the board on Wednesday, with the Dow gaining 360.21 points to close at 52,856.09, as improved results from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer boosted demand for AI-related stocks. Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion and earnings per share of $3.83, both beating expectations, and forecast full-year capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion; its shares rose more than 3% after hours. Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter, beating expectations, and free cash flow turned positive at $1.53 billion, sending its shares up 3.41%.
East Money
Tesla Q3 Earnings: Revenue $28.05 Billion, Doubling Down on AI and Optimus Robots
Tesla released its third-quarter earnings report, with revenue of $28.05 billion, down 0.2% year-over-year, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.48, beating expectations, while automotive revenue fell 3% year-over-year to $20.56 billion. The company lowered its full-year capital expenditure forecast from $25 billion to $20 billion, with the funds going toward the Optimus production line, AI computing, the Cybercab production line, and the Terafab chip factory in partnership with SpaceX. Tesla said Optimus has begun production at the Fremont factory, and Musk expects it will take at least a year to reach the goal of producing 1 million units per year, and plans to achieve 400 megawatts of AI training compute by the end of the year.
Cailian Press
Tesla Q3 revenue $28.05 billion, capital expenditure $4.73 billion far below expectations
Tesla's third-quarter revenue was $28.05 billion, down 0.2% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.48 beating the expected $0.44; capital expenditure was $4.73 billion, far below the estimated $7.95 billion, and the full-year capital expenditure forecast was cut from $25 billion to $20 billion. The funds will go toward the Optimus production line, AI computing, the Cybercab production line, and the Terafab chip factory in partnership with SpaceX. Optimus has begun production at the Fremont factory, and Musk said reaching an annual output of 1 million units may take a year or longer. Tesla plans to achieve 400 megawatts of AI training compute by the end of the year, and active FSD subscribers have risen to 1.74 million.
Wall Street Insights
Energy storage drags down Tesla Q3 revenue, but free cash flow recovers, EPS beats expectations, gross margin rebounds | Earnings insights
Tesla's third-quarter 2026 revenue was $28.05 billion, essentially zero year-over-year growth and slightly below the expected $28.13 billion; a 16% year-over-year decline in energy generation and storage revenue was the main drag. Adjusted EPS was $0.48, about 9% above expectations, and gross margin rebounded sequentially to 19.6%. Free cash flow of $1.53 billion far exceeded analysts' expectation of negative $4.99 billion, but partly stemmed from capital expenditures of $4.73 billion coming in below expectations. Active FSD subscriptions reached 1.74 million, up 67% year-over-year.
Elon Musk
Musk on Tesla Q3: People buy the car for FSD
Tesla released its Q3 earnings; active FSD subscriptions reached 1.74 million, up 67% year over year. Commenting on this, Musk said that people are buying FSD, and the car is just incidental.
Elon Musk
Musk praises Tesla team for making tremendous progress
Musk reposted Tesla's Q3 shareholder update and said "the Tesla team has made tremendous progress." The update disclosed: the FSD Supervised attach rate among new vehicle deliveries in North America exceeded 75%, the next-generation Roadster was unveiled, the Tesla Semi entered volume production, Robotaxi has accumulated nearly 2 million miles of unsupervised driving, and Optimus has started production at the high-volume line in Fremont.
TechCrunch AI
Tesla starts Optimus robot production in California, Q3 profit falls 43%
Tesla announced on Wednesday that it has started production of its Optimus humanoid robot at its Fremont factory in California; the line was previously used to produce electric vehicles, and the company said the units rolling off are the first mass-production-quality robots. On the earnings call, Musk said this is early-stage production that will ramp slowly and face setbacks, and said that by the end of 2027 Tesla could produce 20,000 units per week. In the same period, Tesla's third-quarter revenue was $28.04 billion, essentially flat, while net profit was $787 million, down 43% year over year, with rising spending mainly directed toward Optimus, AI and autonomous driving.
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