Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
Tesla Net Profit Falls 43% in Q3 2026 as Elon Musk Pushes SpaceX Merger Talks
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Net income fell 43% to $787 million in Q3 2026. Revenue reached about $28 billion in Q3 2026.
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Tesla Q3 profit drops
Tesla reported third-quarter 2026 results with net profit falling to $787 million, down 43% year over year, as the company’s automotive revenue declined to $20.6 billion and its solar and storage line fell 16% to $2.9 billion. Tesla’s operating expenses rose by 39% to $4.8 billion, and Tesla’s operating margin dropped to 2.6% from 5.8% in Q3 2025. Tesla’s capital expenditures rose by 110% to $4.7 billion, and Tesla’s free cash flow fell 62% to $1.5 billion.
“Net profit fell to $787 million, down 43% year over year.”
Tesla’s earnings release came after CEO Elon Musk told investors on SpaceX’s quarterly call that it would be a "good idea" for his two companies to merge, and Musk said the boards at both have formed special committees to discuss a possible tie-up. Tesla also reported that it deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage during the quarter and delivered 486,532 vehicles while producing 464,391.
Robotaxi and Optimus
Tesla said uptake of its FSD (Supervised) grew, with active FSD subscriptions increasing 67% from a year earlier to 1.74 million. Tesla’s investor deck said, "We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available," and Tesla said it continued working with regulators to get approval in other markets. Tesla also said it plans to give some customer cars access to its forthcoming FSD (Unsupervised) systems around the second quarter of next year, according to Ashok Elluswamy.
Tesla began producing Optimus humanoid robots at its Fremont, California factory, and the company said the robots coming off its Fremont line are its first "production-quality" Optimus units. Tesla’s Q3 update also tied its robotaxi push to Austin, Texas, with Tesla writing that it "started providing Robotaxi rides using Cybercabs on September 3 in Austin" and that it reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles as of the end of the quarter.
Merger talks and stakes
Elon Musk said he was "tap dancing through a minefield" when responding to a question about a potential merger, and Musk added that he "I think I said everything that should be said yesterday." SpaceX’s results presentation on October 20 confirmed the existence of committees studying a potential Tesla–SpaceX merger, and Tesla’s conference coverage said the review was preliminary and that no merger should be presented as decided. Tesla’s Q3 figures arrived as the company reported revenue of about $28.05 billion and operating income around $718 million, down about 56% according to initial account analyses.
“During SpaceX’s results presentation on October 20, Elon Musk confirmed the existence of committees studying a potential Tesla–SpaceX merger.”
The New York Times said Tesla spent heavily on artificial intelligence and other new technologies, and it reported that Musk declined to discuss the merger during a conference call with investors and analysts Wednesday. Tesla’s Q3 update also pointed to ongoing investment priorities, with Tesla expecting hardware profits to be accompanied over time by an acceleration of SI, software and fleet-based profits, while the company did not provide numeric delivery or financial guidance in its Q3 2026 Update.
