After many years of hard work and a semi-stable situation, I believe we are now heading into a period full of achievements and great growth,
Elon Musk said regarding the trajectory of his ventures.
Tesla’s third-quarter net income fell 43% to $787 million, or 22 cents per share, according to Euronews. The company increased spending on robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous transport during this period.
🔥 Tesla Q3 2026 UpdateKey highlights:✅ Revenue: $28.0B (flat YoY)✅ Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48✅ Free cash flow: $1.5B✅ Gross margin: 19.6% (+160 bp YoY)✅ Cash & investments: $45.4BOperations:✅ Production: 464,391 vehicles (+4% YoY)✅ Deliveries: 486,532✅ Energy… pic.twitter.com/U7gsyvHWVw
Quarterly revenue fell 0.2% to $28.05 billion, down from $28.1 billion a year prior, as reported by Site 24. Tesla reported a slight dip in vehicle sales and revenue declines in its energy generation, storage, and regulatory credits activities. Excluding certain items, the firm recorded adjusted profits of $1.7 billion, or 48 cents per share.
Musk Proposes SpaceX Merger
Tesla and SpaceX are exploring a potential merger. Following requests from shareholders, both companies formed special committees of independent directors to study the possibility. Musk stated that he will not participate in these discussions due to potential conflicts of interest, as he holds significant stakes in both entities.
Here are the most important highlights from @Tesla's Q3 2026 earnings call:• Tesla's 2027 Megapack production capacity is nearly sold out.• Tesla is aiming to produce 5 million vehicles annually by 2030.• Customers are increasingly visiting Tesla showrooms specifically… pic.twitter.com/TnrydzmLNj
SpaceX is valued at approximately $2.1 trillion, while Tesla is valued at $1.5 trillion, according to Al Jazeera. The combined market value of the two companies is estimated between $3.5 trillion and $3.6 trillion.
Analysts at Barclays suggest that an all-stock acquisition of Tesla by SpaceX could result in one Tesla share being equal to roughly 0.7 SpaceX shares. Such a deal would require the approval of at least 50% of Tesla shareholders.
Elon Musk on Tesla's Q3 earnings call:"We've been laying the groundwork for a lot more manufacturing capacity. We're aiming for 5 million vehicles a year by 2030." pic.twitter.com/gB35WMkzlx
Musk believes the companies could benefit from collaborating on satellite infrastructure, space-based computing, chip design, robotics, and AI software. He noted that the two firms already cooperate, such as SpaceX purchasing Cybertrucks from Tesla.
Tesla Spends Billions on Robots and AI
Tesla more than doubled its annual capital expenditure this quarter to $4.7 billion. However, the company lowered its overall 2026 capital expenditure forecast to approximately $20 billion, down from a previous estimate exceeding $25 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja stated that the company intends to fund this spending primarily through operating cash flow. Key investments include:
- Optimus: The development of humanoid robots.
- TeraFab: A chip-making project in Austin conducted in partnership with SpaceX.
- Robotaxis: Autonomous taxi services, with over 800 vehicles currently registered for autonomous service in Texas according to the FSD database.
Quarterly deliveries rose slightly to 486,532 vehicles from 480,126 in the previous quarter, though this figure remains 2% lower than the same period last year. Musk has set a target to produce approximately five million vehicles annually by 2030, compared to the 1.65 million produced in 2025.
SpaceX Profits Surge
SpaceX reported a net profit of $4.4 billion for the last quarter, a reversal from a loss of approximately $1 billion in the third quarter of the previous year, according to Emirates 24. Revenues jumped to $14.58 billion, driven largely by AI data centers and Starlink.
Starlink revenues rose 69% year-on-year to $5.2 billion. SpaceX’s AI division, SpaceX SI, generated $7.56 billion in revenue, leasing massive data centers to competitors such as Anthropic. Rocket launch operations also grew 6% annually to $1.77 billion.
Musk cautioned that claiming the deal is certain would be an exaggeration, stating that no terms have been agreed upon yet, and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached.
