Tesla reported first-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street forecasts with adjusted EPS of $0.41 and revenue of $22.39 billion. The stock initially rose after hours before reversing sharply when the company announced a capital expenditure plan exceeding $25 billion for 2026 and guided for negative free cash flow. Investors are also tracking the Tesla Robotaxi expansion into Dallas and Houston, while CEO Elon Musk provided updates on the Optimus humanoid robot’s production timeline.
Tesla’s Q1 earnings beat analyst expectations on Wednesday. Adjusted earnings per share reached $0.41, and revenue was $22.39 billion, while gross margin improved to 21.1%.
The company’s stock spiked after the report but then fell in after-hours trading. This reversal followed CFO Vaibhav Taneja stating on the call that Tesla now targets capital expenditure above $25 billion for 2026.
Taneja detailed the spending, stating, “Our current expectation for 2026 is over $25 billion of CapEx … we’re further increasing our investment in AI-related initiatives.” He added, “We are in a very big capital investment phase, which is going to start now and would last a couple of years.”
The investment covers six factories, AI compute, and products like the Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and the Optimus robot. On the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk outlined the Optimus production ramp, targeting a V3 reveal close to its production start.
Musk explained, “So you should expect that initial production of Cybercab and Semi will be very slow, but then ramping up.” He also noted a reluctance to reveal the V3 Optimus early, citing competitor analysis.
The Tesla Robotaxi service expanded into Dallas and Houston, operating without a safety driver. Robotaxi miles nearly doubled sequentially in the first quarter, though specific fleet sizes were not disclosed.
Musk confirmed that older vehicles with Hardware 3 will not support unsupervised Full Self-Driving. An analyst noted the valuation could face pressure from what was described as backpedaling on the timing of unsupervised FSD and Robotaxi.
