Tesla posts 16% revenue growth to $22.4 billion, misses Wall Street estimates
Tesla on Wednesday posted 16% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2026, bringing in $22.39 billion and slightly missing the $22.64 billion Wall Street expected.
In the earnings report, Tesla said adjusted earnings per share came in at 41 cents, ahead of the 37 cents analysts polled by LSEG were looking for. The TSLA has surged by more than 4% in extended trading as of press time, according to data from TradingView.
In terms of crypto, Tesla’s earnings report did not disclose any Bitcoin buying or selling activity. The “carrying value of digital assets” crashed from approximately $1.008 billion at the end of Q4 2025 to $786 million, caused by fair value adjustments driven by the decline in Bitcoin prices.
Tesla’s total revenue was $19.3 billion a year ago. In Q1, its net income increased to $477 million, or 13 cents a share, from $409 million, or 12 cents a year ago.
Even so, TSLA has crashed by 14% YTD in 2026 through Wednesday’s close, making Tesla the weakest performer among the megacap names. Amazon is up 11% this year, Alphabet has gained 8%, Nvidia has added about 9%, and the S&P 500 is up roughly 4%.
The core auto business is carrying the company. Automotive revenue rose 16% to $16.2 billion from $14 billion a year earlier. Tesla also said in its earnings deck that it plans to offer “more affordable trims” for the Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan. That comes as the company’s lineup gets older and rivals keep coming with newer, cheaper, and more advanced vehicles. Chinese companies such as BYD and Xiaomi are part of that pressure.
Earlier this month, Tesla reported 358,023 vehicle deliveries for the first quarter. That was lower than the previous quarter and about 6% higher than a year earlier. The company has also posted annual declines in the past two years. In the year-ago quarter, part of the weakness came from “the loss of several weeks of production” while Tesla upgraded Model Y factory lines.
There is also a consumer backlash hanging over the business tied to Elon Musk’s work with the Trump administration, along with his political rhetoric and support for far-right figures.
At the same time, the company said its automotive gross margin, excluding sales of environmental regulatory credits, was 19.2%. That was higher than in any quarter last year. Tesla said the result was helped by a higher average selling price and “lower average cost per vehicle due to lower material costs.”
Tesla raises spending on Optimus and self-driving while EV sales still bring in most revenue
Outside cars, Tesla’s energy segment, which includes solar products and battery storage systems, Tesla posted $2.41 billion in revenue, which is down 12% from $2.73 billion a year before. At the same time, Tesla’s capital expenditures jumped by 67% to $2.49 billion from $1.49 billion in the same quarter last year.
Elon has been trying to steer attention toward self-driving technology and humanoid robots. Tesla is testing a small number of driverless vehicles in its ride-hailing service in Texas, but the company gets most of its revenue from electric vehicle sales and does not sell a robotaxi-ready car.
In January, Tesla said it would end production of the Model S and Model X and use its Fremont, California factory to build Optimus humanoid robots.
In today’s earnings report, Tesla said, “preparations for our first large-scale Optimus factory will begin shortly in Q2,” and added that the “first-generation line” is planned to produce 1 million robots a year.
Thomas Monteiro, an analyst at Investing.com and a Tesla investor, said the “real story” was cash flow, even as Tesla faces “several structural and macro challenges in its core business.”
He said, “In a world where EV demand and regulatory credits remain difficult to scale, a pivot toward a more diversified, service-heavy revenue base should help support margins for the long haul. Moreover, the combination of growing FSD subscriptions and a gradually improving regulatory backdrop should continue to sustain the next innovation narrative.”
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