Tesla Q1 & Spending Shift

Tesla stayed profitable in the first quarter even as it built far more cars than it delivered — and then told investors it will spend much more on artificial intelligence, robotaxis and humanoid robots. (tesla.com) Tesla reported $477 million in net income on $22.39 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Adjusted earnings were 41 cents a share, ahead of analyst estimates cited by CNBC, while revenue came in below consensus. (tesla.com) (cnbc.com) The auto business still looked soft. Tesla said on April 2 that it produced 408,386 vehicles in Q1 but delivered 358,023, a gap of about 50,000 cars that added to inventory. (tesla.com) (cnbc.com) On the earnings call, Elon Musk said capital spending will rise “substantially,” and investors quickly got a number to focus on: Tesla said 2026 spending will run about $5 billion above its prior guidance. CNBC reported the stock initially rose in after-hours trading, then gave up those gains during the call. (cnbc.com) (finance.yahoo.com) Tesla’s shareholder update tied that spending to “additional AI compute,” battery and materials factories, and production lines for Megapack 3, Cybercab and the Tesla Semi. The same deck said the company launched unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Dallas and Houston in April and is preparing Optimus for mass production. (tesla.com) That marks a sharper turn away from judging Tesla only as a carmaker. CNBC noted Tesla still gets the bulk of its revenue from autos, even as Musk has centered the company’s pitch on driverless taxis and robots that are not yet meaningful commercial businesses. (cnbc.com) Tesla said auto revenue rose 16% from a year earlier to $16.2 billion, and automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits reached 19.2%, the highest level in any quarter last year, according to CNBC’s read of the results. Tesla attributed margin help to higher average selling prices and lower material costs per vehicle. (cnbc.com) Some analysts said the beat did not settle the demand question. Electrek reported that one-time warranty and tariff items, longer supplier payment timing and new debt all helped the quarter look stronger than the delivery numbers suggested. (electrek.co) Tesla argued demand was improving across Asia-Pacific, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and North America, and said it plans “more affordable trims” of the Model 3 and Model Y. But the quarter left investors weighing a profitable present against a much more expensive bet on what Musk says comes next. (tesla.com) (cnbc.com)