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Tesla Top 5 Week in Review: Utah Bans Tesla Sales, Controversy Over Drivers Data, Model 3 Sensors, and More
What a week it was for Tesla! Reaching all-time trading highs was certainly an achievement to celebrate. So, too, was the 2017 Q1 earnings report, in which Tesla excelled in deliveries versus same month, previous year. Teslarati gets the first scoop a Model 3 release candidate in the wild, with reports of new sensors being spotted. Tesla’s company practice of divulging individual driver data became a contested topic, as did the Utah Supreme Court’s decision to prohibit Tesla direct sales to customers. Here are those stories and more on our Teslarati Top 5 Week in Review.
Tesla steamrolls US automakers to become #1 by market cap
Source: Courtesy Yahoo Finance
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) stock, which had previously traded at $280 in February, achieved its all-time high this week, up from the March 31, 2017 close of market mark of $291.74. Tesla’s performance pushed the company’s market capitalization past that of Ford for the first time ever. Ford’s market capitalization at about $44.8 billion stood just about $3 billion under Tesla’s. Next in line for Tesla is GM’s $51.4 billion market cap. Tesla sold only a fraction of Ford’s 6.7 million cars and GM’s 10 million cars in 2016; both offer investors the comfort of healthy balance sheets and steady profits. However, Tesla investors seem willing to hold out for the company’s future potential for still higher growth ahead. Historical malaise over missed delivery targets may be dissipating.
Tesla delivers a record 25,000 Model S, X in Q1 2017, 69% increase over Q1 2016
With Model S deliveries at 3,450 and Model X deliveries at 11,550, Tesla achieved a new quarterly record to start 2017. Selling just over 25,000 vehicles in Q1 represented a 69% increase over the same month, Q1 2016. Tesla argues that vehicle deliveries symbolize only one measure of the company’s financial performance; quarterly financial results, they say, depend on a variety of factors, including the cost of sales, foreign exchange movements, and mix of directly leased vehicles.
New sensors spotted on Tesla Model 3: Autopilot 2.0 could have 10 cameras
Up until Tuesday, the Model 3 was assumed to have eight cameras: three facing forwards, two in the B-pillar between the front and rear doors, two in the front fenders, and one in the rear by the hatch latch. (Radar and ultrasonic sensors will also provide the computer with contextual data.) The recent sighting indicates that two additional sensors are located by the C-pillars between the rear door and back. This is significant because Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly stated that the Model 3 design is meant to include autonomous driving. With a dashboard that lacks a speedometer on the driver’s side and, instead, will fade in and out of opacity on the central control screen, the Model 3 technology evolution will be fascinating. Its sensors and cameras will provide crucial data about the vehicle’s surroundings, bringing the future to today.
Tesla defends its right to release individual driver data to disprove claims
Tesla’s company policies about owner privacy has been under scrutiny this week, with accusations that it divulges drivers’ performance information in order to protect its self-driving car technology. Unlike other research institutions, Tesla does not acquire permission from its drivers, who are supplying data about self-driving technology system responses. Moreover, while the company has disseminated specific driver information to the media following crashes, it has refused thus far to share that same data with the drivers. Some accidents involving Tesla all-electric vehicles have involved the Tesla Autopilot system, but in 2016 the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cleared Tesla of any wrong-doing in a fatal crash in which Autopilot was engaged.
Tesla loses 5-0 battle in Utah over right to sell direct to consumers
The Utah Supreme Court this week has upheld a previous ruling which prohibits Tesla and other automakers from selling directly to customers. Tesla contested Utah’s claim of manufacturers and dealer owners being one and the same, saying its direct sales to customers distinguish it from independent dealerships. In essence, the Utah Supreme Court justices chose not to address when Utah law does or does not block an automaker from direct sales.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2026, marking a reasonable performance on the various financial metrics. Tesla still plans to hold a call that will field investor questions at 5:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. CT.
Here’s where Earnings came in:
- Total Revenues: $28.046 reported vs. $28.34B expected
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48 reported vs. $0.45 expected
- Operating Margin: 2.6 % reported vs. 2.5% expected
- Operating Income: $718M reported vs. $721M expected
- Free Cash Flow: $1.531B reported vs. ~-$4.51B expected
Tesla $TSLA Earnings Results:
Revenues: $28.046B
Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48
Operating Margin: 2.6%
Operating Income: $718M
FCF: $1.531B— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 21, 2026
Major Takeaways
Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets.”
Tesla Semi
“We began volume production of Tesla Semi, our Class 8 heavy-duty truck. The top variant can go 500 miles at full 82,000 lbs gross combination weight while achieving an efficiency of 1.7 kWh/mile. That efficiency allows the Tesla Semi to use a third of the energy used by a comparable diesel truck to haul the same payload. In a transportation market where energy is one of the largest components of total cost per mile, this will provide a meaningful advantage to Tesla Semi operators.”
SI Compute
“We plan to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by the end of the year, supporting the development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software. Additionally, we continued construction for the Austin Fab, where we plan to start commissioning equipment in 2027.”
Robotaxi
“We began deployment of Cybercab into our Robotaxi fleet in Austin. We reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter. Operating hours in Austin are now 6am to midnight, and we expect to reduce wait times via increased fleet supply and improvement of Robotaxi orchestration algorithms. Grok is available in Cybercab with access to Grok Bot and Connectors, which allows users to manage their inbox, calendars, files, chats and tasks – all hands free via voice command – making Cybercab a mode of transport, a productivity space and, with our entertainment options, a second living room.”
Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reports its earnings for Q3 today. Here’s what to expect, as the company will reveal its balance sheet after the market closes on Wednesday.
Tesla already reported deliveries just after Q3 ended, and it demolished Wall Street consensus estimates of roughly 462,000 vehicles. Tesla delivered 486,532 cars in the third quarter, which was a big beat, but was down 2.1 percent from the same quarter last year. Energy storage deployments were 13.7 GWh, up year-over-year.
Tesla showrooms picked clean ahead of Q3 end as demand looks strong
For the quarter, analysts have already compiled their predictions for what Tesla will report this afternoon:
- Total Revenues: $28.34B
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.43
- Operating Margin: 2.5%
- Operating Income: $721M
- Free Cash Flow: ~-$4.51B
Here are a few things we are looking forward to hearing about on the call:
Automotive Gross Margin and Overall Profitability
This was 16.3 percent in Q2, down from 19.2 percent in Q1, and was impacted by warranty charges and some fading regulatory credits. Consensus implies overall gross margin near 18 percent, but a miss here would potentially reinforce concerns about pricing pressure on its vehicles.
Pay attention to energy storage margins as well, especially since Tesla missed GWh expectations, although it was still a strong quarter.
Robotaxi/Cybercab, Unsupervised FSD, and Optimus Progress
The Say questions from retail investors usually focus on these types of projects, and this quarter is no different. Scaling the Cybercab fleet beyond Austin amid the open NHTSA safety review, timeline for Unsupervised FSD in customer cars, Robotaxi unit economics, and Optimus cost per unit plus when it could start generating revenue, are all things to be looking for.
Any concrete timelines or regulatory path details will likely move the stock more than the near-term numbers. SpaceX merger speculation, which was detailed during SpaceX’s earnings call last night, may also surface, although the key details were shared last night.
Elon Musk just confirmed the Tesla and SpaceX merger step everyone was waiting for
Say Investor Questions
- How does the Cybercab fleet scale past Austin, and what’s the regulatory path outside Texas given NHTSA’s open safety review?
- When can we anticipate FSD unsupervised in customer cars?
- When will the CyberCab be available for customer purchase/ownership?
- What’s the unit economics per paid robotaxi mile, and how does it compare to the thirty-cent target?
- Tesla has acknowledged that HW3 vehicles cannot support unsupervised FSD. When will owners know whether they can upgrade their hardware for free, and when will Tesla provide a clear plan?
The full Earnings Call will be streamed this evening after market close around 5 p.m. this evening.
SpaceX confirmed the date of Starship’s 15th launch window with some massive ambitions for the mission, as it will attempt to catch Ship for the first time.
CEO Elon Musk confirmed during SpaceX’s Earnings Call last night on October 20 that it would launch Starship for its 15th test flight in November, and there are some incredible things the company wants to try, making it perhaps the most groundbreaking launch in the program’s history.
SpaceX delivers blockbuster Q3 results as Super Intelligence segment booms
The most major development of the call was SpaceX’s intention to catch Ship alongside catching the Super Heavy Booster, something that has happened in the past. SpaceX showed an animation of the Ship catch, which will be done on the launch tower’s chopsticks:
SpaceX has released a new Starship tower catch animation for the upcoming Flight 15! https://t.co/kStn01Da8u
— Truthful🛰️ (@Truthful_ast) October 20, 2026
This monumental goal is to catch both the Ship and Booster in a dual-catch scenario, an incredible feat since SpaceX has never been able to reuse a Ship after launch. Musk said it would be “the first time that an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered,” and said it would be a “profound technology milestone.”
Musk said the odds of success on this first Ship catch attempt are “more likely than not,” but SpaceX is ultimately prepared for more tries moving forward. The SpaceX frontman said that, starting next year, Starship would have a “steady stream” of flights through the end of the year.
The cadence will accelerate in 2027, with Musk stating the company plans to target weekly flights in the first half of 2027 and twice-weekly by year-end.
The Flight 15 attempt follows that of Flight 14, which took off in late September and was Starship’s first orbital mission. It deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, accomplished a controlled ocean splashdown of both stages, and shed more light on potential challenges for the program moving forward.
As of now, the Starship program is firing on all cylinders.
Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.
Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS
Tesla reports Q3 Earnings today: here’s what to expect
