Topline
Tesla shares slid 5% as trading opened Thursday after Elon Musk’s automaker reported sinking profits through its third quarter, despite setting a sales record as a federal tax credit for electric vehicles expired.
Elon Musk’s automaker reported a mixed bag for quarterly earnings, despite earlier posting a record-breaking tally for sales.
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Key Facts
Shares of Tesla fell 5% to around $416 shortly after market open Thursday, adding to a slight dip (0.8%) on Wednesday in the lead-up to Tesla’s quarterly earnings announcement.
On Wednesday, Tesla reported $28.09 billion in third-quarter revenues, well above Wall Street’s estimates of $26.5 billion and a 24.8% increase from the previous quarter, yet earnings fell short of analysts’ projections after Tesla recorded earnings per share of $0.50, below estimates of $0.56.
In addition to the earnings miss, Tesla reported profits of $1.4 billion, a 37% decrease from the year-ago period.
What Did Elon Musk Say In Tesla’s Earnings Call?
Tesla shareholders requested that executives discuss details about plans for new car models, updates on Tesla’s robotaxi plans and how the automaker would fare after a tax credit for EVs expired earlier this month, but CEO Musk spent much of the earnings call discussing Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus. Musk, who said Tesla had become the “leader in real-world AI,” suggested the company was “on the cusp of something really tremendous with Optimus,” which Musk said has the “potential to be the biggest product of all time.” Tesla’s robot will be an “incredible surgeon,” Musk said, adding Tesla will demo a new version of Optimus in early 2026. Musk also said Tesla’s AI chip, AI5, would be built by Samsung and TSMC, noting Tesla would not replace Nvidia’s chips for training its models. Near the end of Tesla’s earnings call, Musk called a pair of shareholder advisory firms, which opposed his $1 trillion pay package, “corporate terrorists,” after they recommended votes against the package. Glass Lewis and ISS had previously recommended Tesla shareholders vote against Musk’s $56 billion pay package last year, which was approved but is still held up in court.
Forbes Valuation
Musk is the world’s wealthiest person with a fortune estimated at $487.5 billion as of Thursday. He became the first person to surpass the $500 billion threshold earlier this month, and he again returned above the mark after Tesla reported a quarterly sales record.
Key Background
A slide in profits coincided with Tesla reporting more than 497,000 vehicle deliveries through its third quarter, the most by the automaker on record. That record-setting sales total came as the Trump administration ended a $7,500 tax credit for Americans purchasing an EV, which expired on Oct. 1. In the lead-up to the credit expiring, Musk said Tesla could “have a few rough quarters,” while Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s finance chief, suggested the company could struggle with inventory as President Donald Trump imposed his tariffs. Earlier this month, Tesla debuted cheaper alternatives to its Model Y and Model 3 cars, years after Musk first teased more affordable options in Tesla’s first product release in years.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/10/23/tesla-shares-stumble-5-after-third-quarter-profit-sinks/
