Tesla lifts 2026 capex guidance to about $25B to fund AI and factory expansion

Tesla raised its 2026 capital expenditure plan to more than $25 billion as it spends more heavily on artificial intelligence, robotics and factory expansion. (cnbc.com) (techcrunch.com) The new target is up from Tesla’s January guidance for more than $20 billion in 2026 capital expenditures. Tesla spent about $8.5 billion in 2025, making the new plan roughly triple last year’s level. (techcrunch.com) (reuters.com) Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said Tesla is in a “very big capital-investment phase” that starts now and lasts a couple of years, and he said free cash flow will be negative for the rest of 2026. Tesla reported positive first-quarter free cash flow of $1.44 billion. (reuters.com) (techcrunch.com) Tesla’s first-quarter 2026 update said the company is ramping additional AI compute, opening new battery and battery-material factories, and preparing production lines for Megapack 3, Cybercab and the Tesla Semi. The filing also said Tesla is building the infrastructure and AI software behind its robotaxi and future robotics businesses. (tesla.com) That spending plan shows how far Tesla’s strategy has shifted from selling electric cars toward building an AI-and-robotics platform. Musk told analysts the higher capital spending was “well justified” by what he described as a much larger future revenue stream. (techcrunch.com) (reuters.com) Investors responded cautiously after the earnings call. Tesla shares rose as much as 4% in extended trading after the results, then reversed and fell 2.4% after management detailed the bigger spending plan. (cnbc.com) (reuters.com) The market reaction came even though Tesla beat Wall Street’s adjusted earnings estimate. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of 41 cents on $22.39 billion in revenue, versus LSEG estimates of 37 cents and $22.64 billion. (cnbc.com) Tesla’s automotive business is still under pressure from rivals including BYD and Xiaomi, even as first-quarter deliveries reached 358,023 vehicles. CNBC reported Tesla stock had already fallen 14% in 2026 through the April 22 close before the earnings release. (cnbc.com) The company is now asking shareholders to fund a more capital-intensive version of Tesla: more data centers and AI chips, more factory ramps, and more production tooling for products that are not yet major revenue contributors. Reuters said much of Tesla’s $1.45 trillion market value rests on Musk’s robotaxi and humanoid-robot push. (reuters.com) (tesla.com) For now, the headline is simple: Tesla is spending like a company trying to build its next business before its current one fully stabilizes. (reuters.com) (cnbc.com)