Tesla Q3 earnings miss estimates as higher costs offset jump in sales

Published 22/10/2025, 21:36
© Reuters

Investing.com -- Tesla reported Wednesday mixed quarterly third-quarter results after earnings missed analyst estimates as rising sales were offset by higher costs just as the EV maker braces for slowing demand in the U.S. following EV tax credit expiration. 

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell more than 1% in recent afterhours trading following the report. 

For  Q3, the company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.5 on revenue of $28.1 billion, compared with Wall Street estimates of $0.54 a share and $26.22B, respectively.

Total deliveries for Q3 jumped 7% to 497,098 from the same period a year earlier. Sales were boosted by surge in consumers rushing to secure a $7,500 EV tax credit that expired late last month. 

But a jump in sales was offset by higher operating expenses. 

Gross margins excluding credits, a closely watched metric, rose to 17% in Q3 roughly unchanged from a year earlier.

As Tesla faces rising EV competition, some on Wall Street have flagged the company’s move into Robotaxis, and autonomous humanoid.

"We estimate the AI and autonomous opportunity is worth at least $1 trillion alone for Tesla," Wedbush said in a report ahead of Tesla’s results.

Tesla offered some insight into these initiatives, saying that its Robotaxi, or Cybercab, remains on schedule for volume production in 2026, while the Optimus humanoid robot has now formally been positioned for near-term production. 

"Cybercab, Tesla Semi and Megapack 3 are on schedule for volume production starting in 2026. First generation production lines for Optimus are being installed in anticipation of volume production," Tesla said on Wednesday. 

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