Tesla reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and said Cybercab and Semi production will begin in the first half of 2026 as the company invests in autonomous vehicles and robotics.
Additionally, it announced that it has invested “approximately $2 billion” into xAI, the company behind the large language model Grok.
The Austin, Texas-based company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.50, beating the $0.44 analyst consensus based on Tesla‘s survey of 19 analysts released on January 22. Revenue came in at $24.9 billion, above the $24.5 billion estimate.
GAAP earnings per share were $0.24, with net income of $840 million. Operating margin stood at 5.7% while gross margin came in at 20.1%.
“While automotive sales declined sequentially, gross margin (even when excluding the impact of regulatory credits) improved,” the company said on its shareholder deck.
2026 Outlook
Tesla said it will further invest in infrastructure to support clean energy, transport, and autonomous robots in 2026.
“Preparations continue in North America for the production ramps of Tesla Semi and Cybercab, both commencing 1H26, and production of the next-generation Roadster,” Tesla stated.
The company said Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and Megapack 3 are on schedule for volume production starting this year, with preparations continuing in North America for production ramps of both Cybercab and Semi commencing in the first half.
Megapack 3 and Megablock production will begin at Megafactory Houston in 2026, the company said.
Optimus and 4680 Batteries
Tesla said first-generation production lines for its Optimus humanoid robot are being installed in anticipation of volume production.
The company plans to unveil the third-generation version of Optimus in the first quarter of this year.
Tesla said it plans to more than double the size of onsite compute in Texas in the first half of 2026, measured in H100 equivalents.
“In the first half of 2026, we plan to more than double the size of onsite compute in Texas (in terms of H100 equivalents),” the company stated.
“We aim to maximize capital efficiency by scaling training compute judiciously, including when the training backlog gets too long or in anticipation of greater demand from our engineers to support our AI-related offerings,” Tesla added.
The Elon Musk-led firm said it has begun producing battery packs with its new 4680 cells for certain Model Y vehicles.
“We now produce dry-electrode for 4680 cells with both anode and cathode made in Austin. We expect both domestic cathode material in Texas and LFP lines in Nevada to begin production in 2026.”
Analyst Expectations
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said ahead of the results that the focus would be on Tesla‘s robotaxi rollout.
“Big focus on Tesla call will be Robotaxi rollout. Musk is now driving Tesla into its next stage of growth as ‘wartime CEO’ and we expect Robotaxis to be rolled out to over 30 US cities in 2026,” Ives wrote on X.
“We believe the most important chapter in Tesla‘s growth story is now beginning,” the analyst added.
Wall Street expects Tesla to deliver 1.77 million vehicles in 2026, an 8.2% increase from last year, according to Visible Alpha data.
Tesla shares reached a record high of $498.83 on December 22, fueled by autonomy-related news after the company announced it started testing fully driverless robotaxi rides in Austin.
As of press time, the stock was trading 2.80% at $443 ahead of the earnings conference call with Elon Musk and the management team.
