Tesla Inc.’s profit plunged as rising costs undercut a record quarter of vehicle sales, exposing strains on its operations while Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk shifts focus away from the automotive business.
Musk used Tesla’s third-quarter earnings to talk up ambitious-but-opaque initiatives including the company’s humanoid robot and artificial intelligence programs, and also pleaded with investors to back his trillion-dollar compensation package. But he offered few details about how Tesla will revive its core business selling electric vehicles after a 40% drop in operating profit.
“We’re left with this lingering uncertainty regarding what the near-term growth drivers will be,” said Garrett Nelson, senior equity research analyst at CFRA.
Adjusted earnings were 50 cents a share in the period, down 31% from a year ago, the company said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts had expected 54 cents on average in estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The results, which extended a string of four straight quarters of weaker-than-expected profit, show the company isn’t immune to the rising costs buffeting the auto industry as President Donald Trump radically overhauls US policy. Tesla’s operating expenses soared 50% to $3.4 billion in the quarter, and it now estimates the impact of US tariffs was $400 million in the period.
Musk has repeatedly outlined a future built around AI, robots and self-driving technology — a vision that has led investors to bid up the stock. But questions are growing over the timeline to develop these businesses and the costs associated with building them out, and Tesla offered few answers in its latest report.
The shares dropped 3.8% at 8:22 p.m. in extended trading in New York.
“The market’s realizing Tesla trades like an AI platform, but reports like a carmaker,” said Haris Khurshid, chief investment officer at Karobaar Capital.
Dec Mullarkey, a managing director at SLC Management, said: “There is not much here to inspire investors.”
‘Incredibly Difficult’
Musk spent a significant portion of the call talking about Tesla’s upcoming humanoid robot product Optimus, which he believes has the potential to be the “biggest product of all time” but “incredibly difficult to bring to market.”
The company said manufacturing lines are being installed to make the robot, with the aim of bringing it to production by the end of next year.
Musk also highlighted Optimus in his appeal for investors to pass his pay package that would give him more voting control of Tesla. He said he doesn’t want to build a “robot army” if he can be ousted in the future.
The company reiterated language from the previous quarter that it’s “difficult to measure” how shifting global trade and fiscal policies would impact its businesses and operations. It sees results hinging on the broader economic environment as well as its speed in accelerating autonomy efforts and ramping up production for key products.
Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja acknowledged that competition and tariffs represent obstacles for the company.
Record Sales
Earlier this month, Tesla reported record third-quarter sales as customers rushed to take advantage of a $7,500 US tax credit for EV purchases that expired Sept. 30, delivering a temporary boost to the company’s core automotive business. But that also means EVs are now more expensive, potentially hindering performance going forward.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect Tesla to report a second year in a row of declining vehicle deliveries.
Musk expects Tesla’s robotaxi business, which launched in Austin in June, to expand to as many as 10 metropolitan areas by the end of the year if the company receives the necessary approvals. He also said the company would remove most human safety operators from robotaxis in Austin later this year. It’s not clear how many of the vehicles are currently operating there after the EV maker launched with about 10 to 20 vehicles.
Tesla also operates a rideshare service in the San Francisco Bay area that is not fully autonomous and is more akin to Uber. It has test permits for Arizona and Nevada.
On Wednesday, Tesla reported $417 million in revenue from regulatory credits it receives from other automakers that exceed emissions standards — only slightly below the previous quarter’s amount. Policy changes under the Trump administration have reduced demand for the credits. Tesla has said it anticipated a decline in that business.
“Tesla has been out of ideas and out of runway for several quarters now, so I don’t see anything particularly interesting happening there,” said Olivier Blanchard, research director and practice lead for intelligent devices at technology research and advisory firm the Futurum Group.
While robotaxis hold promise, he said, issues around scale and competition “don’t provide a credible path to real revenue growth.”
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