Tesla's profits beat expectations, but Elon Musk says big costs are ahead - BERITAJA

A logo for Tesla is seen connected a conveyance astatine a Tesla installation Wednesday, April 15, 2026, successful Portland, Ore. Jenny Kane/AP

Jenny Kane/AP

Tesla's first 4th net hit Wall Street's expectations, pinch profits coming successful 16% higher than the first 4th of past year. The results concisely sent the company's banal surging successful after-hours trading.

But past CEO Elon Musk started disconnected the quarterly net telephone pinch investors and analysts by reminding them that the institution is readying important expenditures. "We're going to beryllium substantially expanding our investments successful the future," he said, referring to the $25 cardinal the institution plans to walk this twelvemonth unsocial connected AI package and chips, arsenic good arsenic much accepted manufacturing and creation costs. That cautionary statement dampened Wall Street's enthusiasm and erased the stock's bump.

The company's stronger-than-expected capacity came contempt a slowdown successful Tesla's power retention business — trading batteries that enactment successful 1 place, alternatively than batteries for vehicles. Tesla has besides suffered a driblet successful gross from regulatory credits. Rival automakers who are falling short of authorities requirements for fuel-efficient and zero-emission vehicles could salary Tesla to get "credit" for its zero-emissions conveyance production, off-setting their ain gas-guzzlers — but the Trump administration's argumentation shifts make specified purchases progressively unnecessary.

Tesla's profits, while exceeding expectations, were not awesome by the company's ain humanities standards. In fact, this 4th Tesla clocked its second-worst nett profits and conveyance deliveries retired of the past 12 quarters, according to the net report; only the dismal results from the first 4th of 2025 were worse. But they came successful good up of what Wall Street analysts had been bracing for.

Tesla says request for its EVs is increasing successful immoderate areas and the institution is seeing a "rebound" successful markets including North America. Higher car prices besides helped thrust profits this quarter. Tesla's U.S. car income person slid aliases stagnated successful caller years, acknowledgment successful portion to Elon Musk's polarizing governmental activities, and much precocious to a broader slump successful U.S. EV sales.

"The truth remains that Teslas are still really bully electrical vehicles," Damon Bell, elder investigation editor astatine Cars.com, told BERITAJA up of the earnings.

"The Model 3 and the Model Y are really benignant of benchmark vehicles that are positioned correct successful that saccharine spot," he said. "They still person a beardown appeal."

The institution besides accrued gross successful a class that includes Tesla's Supercharger conveyance charging web and subscriptions paid for the "Full Self-Driving (supervised)" package system, which could assistance pinch driving tasks erstwhile monitored by a human.

But, arsenic he has done connected galore recent earnings calls, Musk maintained that Tesla's semipermanent outlook depends not connected thing arsenic prosaic arsenic car income aliases charging revenue, but connected artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and afloat self-driving vehicles. Musk has many times told investors to hole for the institution to move monolithic quantities of money into specified next-generation technologies, which whitethorn make early quarters look little rosy than this one.

"Tesla's not unsocial successful this," Musk said. "I deliberation you've seen most, if not all, [of] surely the awesome exertion companies substantially expanding their superior investments. And we're going to beryllium doing the same. I deliberation it's going to salary disconnected successful a very large way."

The institution is presently operating a mini number of afloat autonomous robotaxis successful Texas, and has promised a monolithic description . And Tesla discontinued its luxury Model S and Model X to free up those accumulation lines to make the humanoid robot the institution calls "Optimus." On the net call, Musk said Optimus will participate accumulation this summertime and commencement being useful "outside Tesla" adjacent year.

"As you've heard maine opportunity a fewer times, I deliberation Optimus will beryllium our biggest product," Musk said. "I stay convinced of that conclusion."

And investors look to work together pinch him; Tesla's sky-high banal value gives it a marketplace capitalization of $1.45 trillion, much than 5 times larger than Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker.

On the day of the net call, connected the sunny rooftop of the Tesla Diner successful Los Angeles, Optimus was obscurity successful sight. The robot played a starring domiciled astatine the diner's expansive opening, and Tesla had precocious teased connected Musk's societal media level X that the robot was "returning to work." But connected this Wednesday, the free popcorn astatine the diner was handed retired the old-fashioned way: by a human. When asked wherever Optimus was, the waiter explained successful long-suffering tones that the robots only appeared for typical occasions.

For Jimmy Cho, a Tesla investor and instrumentality visiting the diner connected a travel to Los Angeles from Taiwan, Optimus' absence was "a small spot disappointing." But he's still all-in connected Musk's imagination for the company, citing "the Optimus robot and full-self driving and possibly the Cybercab" for why he's invested successful the company.

His friend Allen Chiang, who was besides a small fto down not to spot Optimus successful action, acknowledged that Musk's timelines are notoriously unreliable. But eventually, he says, everything Musk has promised "will travel true."

"I deliberation Tesla will alteration the world of quality beings," Chiang said.

And it's that belief, much than immoderate quarter's revenues, that has kept Tesla's banal sky-high for years.