Tesla's mixed Q1

Tesla’s first-quarter report showed a company still making money from cars while spending much more to become an artificial-intelligence and robotics business. (tesla.com) Tesla reported $22.39 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, up 16% from a year earlier, while adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.41, above Tesla’s own compiled analyst consensus of $0.33. (tesla.com, (tesla.com)) The company also posted $1.4 billion in free cash flow after analysts had expected a cash burn, and automotive revenue rose to $16.2 billion even as Tesla had already disclosed first-quarter deliveries of 358,023 vehicles. (reuters.com, (cnbc.com), (tesla.com)) The bigger change was spending. Tesla said 2026 capital expenditures will run above $25 billion after it had pointed investors in January to more than $20 billion, and Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said free cash flow would be negative for the rest of 2026. (reuters.com, (tesla.com)) Tesla tied that higher bill to artificial-intelligence compute, battery and materials factories, and production prep for Megapack 3, Cybercab and the Tesla Semi. The shareholder deck said paid Robotaxi miles nearly doubled sequentially in the quarter. (tesla.com) That mix helps explain the market reaction on April 22. Tesla shares initially rose about 4% in extended trading after the earnings beat, then reversed after executives said annual spending would be about $5 billion higher than prior guidance. (cnbc.com, (reuters.com)) Investors are now weighing two Tesla stories at once: an auto business facing tougher competition from BYD and Xiaomi, and a newer bet that robotaxis and humanoid robots can justify a much larger valuation. Reuters reported that much of Tesla’s market value now rests on that second idea. (cnbc.com, (reuters.com)) Tesla pointed to fresh autonomy progress in April, saying it received approval for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in the Netherlands and launched unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Dallas and Houston. The same deck also notes that Full Self-Driving (Supervised) “does not make the vehicle autonomous” and requires active driver supervision. (tesla.com) That distinction has kept scrutiny on the rollout. Tesla says Dallas and Houston are unsupervised Robotaxi launches, while outside observers have reported small geofenced service areas and limited availability, and Electrek said Tesla’s earlier city-by-city expansion targets now appear pushed back in five U.S. markets. (tesla.com, (electrek.co), (electrek.co)) Tesla’s quarter landed between those two realities: revenue and adjusted profit improved, but the company told investors the next phase will cost more than it had planned just three months ago. (tesla.com, (reuters.com))