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# Tesla's profit fell 43% as it started building Optimus robots and promised Cybercab sales this year
- URL: https://www.skimwire.com/tesla-q3-2026-profit-falls-optimus-production-cybercab-sales/
- Published: 2026-10-22T12:46:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T12:54:40.000Z
- Description: Tesla's Q3 profit fell to $787M on flat revenue, but it cut 2026 capex to ~$20B, began Optimus production and aims to sell Cybercabs by year-end.
- Author: Jeremy Moon
- Tags: Business

## The skim

- Tesla's third-quarter net income fell 43% to $787 million on flat revenue of $28.05 billion, as spending on AI, robotics and its new businesses pushed operating expenses up 39%.
- The upside surprise was cash: Tesla generated $1.53 billion in free cash flow and cut its 2026 capital spending forecast to about $20 billion, down from more than $25 billion.
- Optimus humanoid robots are now coming off a production line in Fremont, and Tesla says it is trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of 2026, even as federal regulators probe the steering-wheel-free car.

## The numbers

Tesla's [Q3 2026 update](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026066738/exhibit9914.htm?ref=skimwire.com), released after the bell on October 21, shows a car business that is holding steady and a company spending heavily on what comes next. Revenue was $28.05 billion, a hair under the $28.10 billion of a year earlier. Deliveries were 486,532 vehicles, down 2%. Operating expenses rose to $4.78 billion from $3.43 billion, which Tesla blamed on AI and other R&D projects, stock-based compensation and overhead. Operating income fell from $1.62 billion to $718 million. Net income dropped 43%, to 22 cents a share, and lower regulatory credit sales hurt too.

Energy, which has carried Tesla through weak car quarters, slipped. Storage and solar revenue fell 16% to $2.88 billion, partly because of what Tesla called "tariff-related customer refunds." The bright spot was services and other, up 33% to $4.61 billion with a record $734 million in gross profit. Active Full Self-Driving subscriptions reached 1.74 million.

Then there was the cash. Tesla spent $4.73 billion on capital projects in the quarter, well below the $7.5 billion analysts expected, [Reuters reports](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/musks-tesla-revenue-beats-estimates-as-deliveries-rebound-energy-storage-grows-4963934?ref=skimwire.com), citing LSEG data. That left $1.53 billion in free cash flow when Wall Street had pencilled in a burn of almost $5 billion. Tesla now expects about $20 billion in 2026 capex, down from more than $25 billion, and didn't say what it will spend less on. The shares rose about 2% after hours, then reversed to trade down about 2%.

## Robots and robotaxis

"Optimus production began in Fremont on our high-volume lines," Tesla wrote. "The bots coming off this line are the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured." On the call, Elon Musk called it "early production" and said the ramp will be "somewhat bumpy because it is such a radically new product," and that reaching a rate of 20,000 robots a week will take "at least a year, maybe a little longer." He also admitted, [TechCrunch reports](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/tesla-stars-optimus-robot-production-in-california-as-profit-falls-43/?ref=skimwire.com), that "quite a lot of work" remains before the robot is "truly useful for open-ended tasks."

The Cybercab has been giving paid rides in Austin since September 3\. Engineering chief Lars Moravy told analysts, "we're trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026," starting small, according to the [call transcript](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/10/22/tesla-tsla-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/?ref=skimwire.com). Elluswamy said Cybercab service launches in Dallas next month. Musk added that "the vast majority" of Cybercabs will stay Tesla-owned and be sold as rides. There's a catch: the car has no steering wheel, pedals or mirrors, and NHTSA opened an [investigation](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/tesla-says-it-will-start-selling-cybercabs-by-end-of-year/?ref=skimwire.com) in September into how Tesla certified it as meeting federal safety standards.

The timeline for owners slipped again. AI chief Ashok Elluswamy said Tesla suspects "somewhere around Q2 next year" is when the first customer cars can join the robotaxi fleet. In April, Musk had said unsupervised FSD would "probably" arrive in the fourth quarter of this year.

## Why it matters

Tesla is asking investors to value it as an AI and robotics company while its profits still come from cars, and this quarter showed both sides of that bet. Cutting capex makes the balance sheet look better, and that matters because Musk said on Tuesday that combining Tesla with SpaceX was a "good idea," with both companies forming special committees, according to Reuters. But spending less now could slow the robot and robotaxi plans that justify Tesla's valuation. Watch the Cybercab rollout in Dallas, the outcome of the NHTSA probe, and whether a merger proposal actually emerges.

*Sources:* [*Tesla Q3 2026 update (SEC filing)*](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026066738/exhibit9914.htm?ref=skimwire.com)*,* [*TechCrunch on Optimus*](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/tesla-stars-optimus-robot-production-in-california-as-profit-falls-43/?ref=skimwire.com)*,* [*TechCrunch on Cybercab*](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/tesla-says-it-will-start-selling-cybercabs-by-end-of-year/?ref=skimwire.com)*,* [*Reuters via Investing.com*](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/musks-tesla-revenue-beats-estimates-as-deliveries-rebound-energy-storage-grows-4963934?ref=skimwire.com)*,* [*earnings call transcript (Motley Fool)*](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/10/22/tesla-tsla-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/?ref=skimwire.com)*.*