EARNINGS REVIEW
Tesla, 2026 Q1 Earnings Results
Historical quarterly report · Results and outlook reflect information available at the time of that release. Actual results from subsequent quarters are not incorporated into the outlook.
Automotive revenue and operating income recovered year over year, but total revenue and operating income declined sequentially. Separate AI and robotics expansion plans from the current profitability and cash generation of automotive and energy businesses.
Assessment · Year-over-year recovery is evident, but sequential profitability and inventory trends need further assessment. A more favorable outlook requires established business margins and FCF to hold up while new product schedules translate into actual deliveries and cash collection.
Key management and company statements
Earnings release · Short original excerpt“maintaining sufficient liquidity to fund our product roadmap”Meaning · The company maintains sufficient liquidity to support its product plans.
Context · This is a funding policy in company earnings materials. It is not attributed to an individual, and future product earnings are not added to current profits.
Original statement ↗01 Revenue, operating income and results versus expectations
Year over year · Revenue 19.335 → 22.387 B$ (+15.8% · +3.052 B$), Operating income 0.399 → 0.941 B$ (+135.8% · +0.542 B$).
Quarter over quarter · Revenue 24.901 → 22.387 B$ (−10.1% · −2.514 B$), Operating income 1.409 → 0.941 B$ (−33.2% · −0.468 B$), Operating margin 5.7% → 4.2% (−1.5%p).
Automotive revenue rose by 2.267 B$ and Services and Other by 1.107 B$, while energy revenue declined by 0.322 B$. Vehicle deliveries increased to 358,023 from 336,681 a year earlier, while energy storage deployments fell from 10.4 → 8.8 GWh.
02 Earnings sustainability · From operating income to net income
Automotive regulatory credit revenue of 0.380 B$ declined from 0.595 B$ a year earlier. When interpreting operating income of 0.941 B$, consider the scale of credits and effects of policy changes separately.
Consolidated net income was 0.491 B$, and net income attributable to common shareholders was 0.477 B$. Digital asset valuation losses of 0.222 B$ were reflected in non-operating income and expenses. The outlook for future autonomous-driving and robotics businesses is not confirmed earnings for this quarter.
- Operating income
- 0.941 B$
- Net non-operating income/loss
- −0.193 B$
- Income tax expense
- −0.257 B$
- Consolidated net income
- 0.491 B$
Net income of 0.477 B$ in the existing quarterly data is attributable to the parent/shareholders. Its scope differs from consolidated net income used in the cash flow reconciliation.
03 Cash flow quality · Net income → OCF → FCF
FCF was 1.444 B$, calculated as OCF of 3.937 B$ less cash CapEx of 2.493 B$. Quarterly figures in company earnings materials and original quarterly filings take priority and were not changed to match rounding or comparative figures in later filings.
- Consolidated net income
- 0.491 B$
- Total net adjustments, including non-cash items and working capital¹
- 3.446 B$
- Operating cash flow
- 3.937 B$
- Cash CapEx
- −2.493 B$
- FCF
- 1.444 B$
¹ Total net adjustments calculated as OCF minus net income. This is not a single disclosed line item; it combines non-cash items, working capital, classification differences and other adjustments.
FCF versus the previous quarter · 1.420 → 1.444 B$, a 0.024 B$ improvement.
04 Financial capacity · Net debt and payment obligations
Previous-quarter net cash · 2025-12-31
Cash and liquid assets 44.059 / Borrowings 8.153 B$
Current-quarter net cash · 2026-03-31
Cash and liquid assets 44.743 / Borrowings 9.019 B$
Net debt deteriorated by 0.182 B$ from the previous quarter. The carrying amount of current borrowings is 1.374 B$. This may differ from the principal maturity schedule.
Cash and short-term investments totaled 44.743 B$. The SpaceX equity investment and digital assets are excluded from cash and liquid assets. Corporate and equity investments and shareholder-related transactions should be treated as uses of funds separate from OCF and FCF.
Common definitions · Cash and liquid assets = cash equivalents + current investments and deposits. Borrowings = carrying amount of interest-bearing debt (current + non-current), excluding separate lease liabilities. This differs from total liabilities of 58.922 B$. Restricted cash, non-current securities and non-current deposits are excluded from cash and liquid assets.
05 Investment, capital allocation and cash recovery
The quarterly 10-Q projected 2026 CapEx above 25 B$. Q1 spending of 2.493 B$ does not represent the annual investment pace, so current positive FCF is not simply extrapolated into annual cash capacity.
Capacity expansion is underway for Cybercab, Semi, Megapack 3, AI compute, Optimus and other areas. Company-stated factory design capacity is not volume already produced or sold, and new products' earnings contributions are not counted as assured profits.
This quarter, cash CapEx/revenue was 11.1% and FCF/revenue was 6.5%. These ratios should not be used as a simple ranking of companies with different business models and FCF definitions.
06 Next-quarter and full-year outlook and implications
Official earnings materials presented plans for volume production of Cybercab, Semi and Megapack 3 in 2026. These were plans at the time, not guarantees of the timing or scale of actual revenue conversion. No numerical next-quarter revenue guidance is invented where no range was provided.
RPO / Backlog
QoQ 10.420 → 10.150 B$ (−2.6% · −0.270 B$).
YoY 9.950 → 10.150 B$ (+2.0% · +0.200 B$).
RPO for contracts longer than 1 year in the Energy Generation and Storage business. Not total-company or automotive order backlog; regulatory credit contracts are separate · Contract balances are not equivalent to committed next-quarter revenue or cash inflows. RPO scope differs across companies.
RPO disclosure ↗Quarterly results · CY-aligned view
Amounts in B$. The table shows all 4 quarters of the prior year and the current year's reported quarters, based on the report's CY-aligned year. Each fiscal quarter is assigned to the calendar quarter with the greatest overlap in its actual reporting period; the original FY/CY label and start and end dates are also shown. Amounts have not been recalculated into actual calendar quarters.
| CY alignment | 2025 · 4 quarters | 2026 · 1 quarter | Change this quarter | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | 2025 total4-quarter totalBalances are at period end | 1Q2025 Q125-01-01 ~25-03-31 | 2Q2025 Q225-04-01 ~25-06-30 | 3Q2025 Q325-07-01 ~25-09-30 | 4Q2025 Q425-10-01 ~25-12-31 | 2026 YTD1-quarter totalBalances are at period end | 1Q2026 Q126-01-01 ~26-03-31 | QoQvs 2025 Q4 | YoYvs 2025 Q1 |
| Revenue | 94.827 | 19.335 | 22.496 | 28.095 | 24.901 | 22.387 | 22.387 | −10.1%−2.514 B$ | +15.8%+3.052 B$ |
| Operating income | 4.355 | 0.399 | 0.923 | 1.624 | 1.409 | 0.941 | 0.941 | −33.2%−0.468 B$ | +135.8%+0.542 B$ |
| Operating margin | 4.6% | 2.1% | 4.1% | 5.8% | 5.7% | 4.2% | 4.2% | −1.5%p | +2.1%p |
| FCF | 6.220 | 0.664 | 0.146 | 3.990 | 1.420 | 1.444 | 1.444 | +0.024 B$ | +0.780 B$ |
| Operating cash flow | 14.747 | 2.156 | 2.540 | 6.238 | 3.813 | 3.937 | 3.937 | +3.3%+0.124 B$ | +82.6%+1.781 B$ |
| Cash CapEx | 8.527 | 1.492 | 2.394 | 2.248 | 2.393 | 2.493 | 2.493 | +4.2%+0.100 B$ | +67.1%+1.001 B$ |
| Net cash | 35.906 | 29.752 | 29.826 | 34.186 | 35.906 | 35.724 | 35.724 | −0.182 B$ | +5.972 B$ |
| Cash and liquid assets | 44.059 | 36.996 | 36.782 | 41.647 | 44.059 | 44.743 | 44.743 | +1.6%+0.684 B$ | +20.9%+7.747 B$ |
| Borrowings | 8.153 | 7.244 | 6.956 | 7.461 | 8.153 | 9.019 | 9.019 | +10.6%+0.866 B$ | +24.5%+1.775 B$ |
Indented rows are components of, or reference items for, the parent metric. Net cash = cash and liquid assets − borrowings. Depending on company definitions, FCF may include additional adjustments such as lease principal and therefore differ from operating cash flow − cash CapEx. See the cash flow discussion for the detailed definition.
Annual totals and year-to-date totals precede the quarters for each year. Revenue, earnings and cash flow are sums of quarterly values; operating margin equals total operating income divided by total revenue; net cash, cash and borrowings are the final quarter's ending balances. Do not make a simple annual comparison of totals covering different period lengths.
Net cash = cash and liquid assets − borrowings. A negative value indicates net debt. Changes in FCF and net cash are shown as absolute amounts in B$. Quarterly values were not adjusted to match disclosed annual totals.
Comparison bases, calculations and quarterly sources
Calculations and presentation · Amounts in B$. US disclosures in millions of dollars were preserved by dividing by 1,000. Where only cumulative cash flow was available, the preceding cumulative amount in the same fiscal year was subtracted. YoY, QoQ and margins were calculated before display rounding. Earnings growth from negative or 0 bases is shown as a sign change and/or absolute amount.
Opinions and outlook · Management quotations include short original excerpts and translations. Unless identified as earnings call transcripts, quotations come from earnings releases. Interpretations and implications are the author's judgments. No numerically unverified probabilities of achieving targets are assigned.