Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q2 2023 earnings call comes on the heels of the company’s Q2 2023 Update Letter. Tesla’s second quarter results were quite impressive, with the electric vehicle maker’s Q2 profits growing 20% to $0.91 per share and revenue increasing 47% to $24.93 billion.
Tesla’s total gross profit for the quarter experienced a 7% growth, amounting to $4.53 billion, while gross margins stood at 18.2%, marking a decrease from 19.3% in the first quarter. Excluding regulatory credits and leases, auto gross margins were reported at 18.1%, down from 18.3% in Q1.
The following are live updates from Tesla’s Q2 2023 earnings call. I will be updating this article in real-time, so please keep refreshing the page to view the latest updates on this story. The first entry starts at the bottom of the page.
17:35 CDT – That wraps up the Q2 2023 earnings call! Once again, thanks for staying with us for yet another live blog! Until the next one!
17:32 CDT – A Goldman Sachs analyst asked about when automotive cogs would be under $36,000. CFO Zachary Kirkhorn noted that it’s hard to say, as there are innumerable factors to consider. The executive noted that commodity prices are dropping, however. “The trend is in being more efficient,” the executive said.
Kirkhorn also clarified that Giga Berlin and Giga Texas are still in their early phases. As the facilities get more optimized, their costs should be improved as well.
17:27 CDT – Oppenheimer asked about the operating system of Dojo. Musk noted that Dojo’s software is a combination of open-source and custom software.
17:24 CDT – Deutsche Bank asks about the estimated release date for a non-beta version of FSD. Musk did not commit to an exact date, though he did predict that FSD will be better than a human by the end of 2023. Musk also mentioned that the price of FSD is actually pretty low, considering the impact of autonomy.
17:18 CDT – Musk noted that it may be reasonable to sacrifice margins considering the potential of autonomy. Autonomy will have significant effects on the car market, the CEO predicted.
17:16 CDT – An analyst question about Dojo is asked, and its effects on Tesla’s financials. Musk noted that Tesla does not specify Dojo’s costs for now, though the company will likely be spending well over a billion on the supercomputer the next year.
As for potential competitors, Musk noted that the costs of developing such hardware are substantial. “In order to copy us, you’d need to spend well over a billion on a training computer,” Musk said. Kirkhorn noted that the numbers that the CEO mentioned for Dojo are between R&D and capital spending.
17:09 CDT – Elon Musk gives a shoutout to ARK Invest, stating that the firm’s analysis is among the best. He also pledges to give long-term value to shareholders. “I’m confident will deliver in the long term, but can’t control the short term,” Musk said.
17:05 CDT – A question about Tesla’s demand is asked. Musk noted that Tesla is fortunate enough to have real-time data on its vehicles’ demand and production. “We’re in turbulent times. I’m very confident in Tesla,” Musk said. The CEO also noted that he sees a least a 5x growth in Tesla, maybe a 10X growth in the future.
17:00 CDT – When asked about Tesla’s estimated demand for Optimus, Musk joked that the humanoid robot’s production would be immense. There are a lot of challenges with Optimus’ ramp, however, as even its actuators have to be custom-made. No suppliers produce the actuators that Tesla needs for its humanoid robot.
What is exciting is that Tesla will be trying out Optimus in its own factories. Elon Musk predicts Optimus will be useful by next year. Elon Musk also talked about using Neuralink to provide bionic parts to amputees, using Optimus parts. Now that’s futuristic!
16:56 CDT – In response to a question about the repairability of megacasted vehicles, Elon Musk joked “There might be why everyone is copying us.” Tesla executives also explained that the repairability of traditionally-produced vehicles is overestimated.
sThe company is working on repairability, of course, and estimates suggest that it is 10x cheaper and 3x faster to fix a vehicle with a megacast. This means that collision repair will be cheaper and faster over time. “I think basically it will be how all cars will be made in the future,” the executive said.
16:54 CDT – A question about the Cybertruck’s demand is asked. Musk’s response is clear. “Demand is so far off the hook, you can’t even see the hook,” the CEO said, though he also set expectations by reminding customers that there is a lot of new technology in the Cybertruck. Mass production is still set for next year.
16:53 CDT – In response to a question about FSD transferability, Musk provided a clear answer. As of Q3, FSD can be transferred to a new car. “It’s a one-time amnesty,” Musk joked.
16:52 CDT – In response to a question about Tesla’s costs and effects from the IRA, Zachary Kirkhorn noted that the company is working on reducing costs in Texas and Berlin, with both facilities seeing improvements during Q2.
16:48 CDT – A question about Tesla Energy was asked. Tesla notes that the Energy Business is gaining some momentum, especially as the Megapack is seeing a lot of demand. Megapack margins remain strong and within expectations, and Autobidder is continuing to grow. Tesla surpassed half a million Powewalls installed as well.
16:46 CDT – First investor question is asked, and it’s about 4680 battery cells. A Tesla executive noted that Tesla is currently focused on yield, though a 25% reduction on cell cost has been achieved. Giga Texas’ 4680 production increased 80% as well. By the time the Cybertruck scales, Tesla expects its 4680 program to be at a pretty good level.
16:44 CDT – Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn takes the stage. He also congratulates the company for yet another record quarter. Kirkhorn notes that Q2 is another record quarter in terms of profit. He also mentioned several of the company’s projects, from the Cybertruck to the next-generation platform. He did, however, also stated that Tesla increased its spending on AI projects, such as FSD, Optimus, and Dojo.
16:41 CDT – The CEO also discussed the rise of Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). In this light, FSD may also be licensed by “major OEMS” in the future. Discussions are already ongoing. In closing, Musk thanked the Tesla team for their hard work once more.
16:39 CDT – Musk confirms that the FSD Beta program has now traveled 300 million miles! He also praised the Cybertruck, noting that Tesla worked hard on every millimeter of the vehicle. “This is the first truck that will have 4 doors, over a 6 ft bed, and can still fit in a 20 ft garage,” Musk said, highlighting that the pickup truck will be delivered this year.
16:36 CDT – Similar to past quarters, Musk highlights Tesla’s work in autonomy, noting that the company’s Robotaxi will have “quasi-infinite demand.” This may sound like another lofty Musk prediction, but with Dojo, Tesla’s FSD and Autopilot efforts are likely to accelerate. As noted by the CEO, Tesla’s Dojo training computer is designed to lower the cost of neural net training.
16:34 CDT – Elon Musk takes the stage. He mentions several of Tesla’s milestones in the second quarter, such as the Model Y becoming the world’s best-selling car in the first quarter. While there is a lot of macro uncertainty, operating margins are still at 10%. Musk warns that Q3 levels will be a bit lower due to factory shutdowns.
16:32 CDT – Tesla VP for Investor Relations Martin Viecha takes the stage. He provides an overview of the rules. Here we go!
16:29 CDT – And the music is starting! I wonder if we’re starting at Elon Time? The Q2 results were great though, so I have a feeling the earnings call will start on time this quarter.
16:25 CDT – Hi, everyone, and welcome to yet another live blog! Tesla’s Q2 numbers are quite impressive, with the company posting better-than-expected results. The Q2 2023 Update Letter also suggested that serious work is underway to produce the Cybertruck, arguably the most highly-anticipated electric vehicle today.
Here’s the YouTube livestream for Tesla’s Q2 2023 earnings call.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors, top Wall Street firm says
Piper Sandler has updated its detailed valuation model for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), concluding that at recent share prices around $400–$420, investors are essentially acquiring the company’s ambitious Optimus humanoid robot project at no extra cost.
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors from a fiscal standpoint, at least that is what Alexander Potter at Piper Sandler, a top Wall Street firm covering the company, says.
Piper Sandler has updated its detailed valuation model for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), concluding that at recent share prices around $400–$420, investors are essentially acquiring the company’s ambitious Optimus humanoid robot project at no extra cost.
Analyst Alexander Potter, in the firm’s latest “Definitive Guide to Investing in Tesla,” built a comprehensive framework covering 17 separate product lines.
This granular approach values Tesla’s core businesses—including electric vehicles, energy storage, Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, in-house insurance, Supercharging network, and a standalone robotaxi operation—at approximately $400 per share, without assigning any value to Optimus or related inference-as-a-service opportunities.
“At $400/share, we think investors can buy Optimus for ‘free,’” Potter stated in the note. Piper Sandler maintained its Overweight rating on Tesla shares and a $500 price target, which implicitly attributes roughly $100 per share to the robot-related businesses— a figure the analyst views as potentially conservative.
The updated model incorporates elements often overlooked by other sell-side analysts, such as detailed forecasts for Tesla’s insurance operations, Supercharger revenue, and a distinct valuation for the robotaxi business separate from FSD software licensing. It also accounts for Tesla’s 2025 CEO compensation plan for the first time.
Potter acknowledged that his estimates for 2026 and 2027 fall below Wall Street consensus, citing factors like declining deliveries from certain discontinued models and reduced regulatory credit income.
However, he expressed limited concern, noting that traditional vehicle delivery metrics are expected to matter less over time as FSD subscriber growth and robotaxi deployment metrics gain prominence. On Optimus specifically, Potter suggested the humanoid robot program, combined with inference services, “arguably will be worth more than Tesla’s other businesses combined,” though the firm has not yet produced formal long-term forecasts for these segments.
Tesla shares have traded near the $400 range in recent sessions, reflecting ongoing investor focus on the company’s autonomous driving progress and expansion into robotics and AI. The Optimus project remains in early development stages, with Tesla aiming to deploy the robots initially for internal factory tasks before broader commercial applications.
This Piper Sandler analysis highlights the growing emphasis among some investors and analysts on Tesla’s long-term technology platform potential beyond its current automotive and energy businesses.
As with any forward-looking valuation, outcomes will depend on execution timelines, technological breakthroughs, regulatory approvals for autonomous systems, and market adoption of humanoid robotics—areas that carry significant uncertainty and execution risk.
The note underscores a common theme in Tesla coverage: differing views on how to quantify emerging high-growth opportunities like robotics within the company’s overall enterprise value. Investors are advised to consider their own risk tolerance and conduct thorough due diligence regarding these speculative elements.
Elon Musk
Tesla confirmed HW3 can’t do Unsupervised FSD but there’s more to the story
Tesla confirmed HW3 vehicles cannot run unsupervised FSD, replacing its free upgrade promise with a discounted trade-in.
Tesla has officially confirmed that early vehicles with its Autopilot Hardware 3 (HW3) will not be capable of unsupervised Full Self-Driving, while extending a path forward for legacy owners through a discounted trade-in program. The announcement came by way of Elon Musk in today’s Tesla Q1 2026 earnings call.
🚨 Our LIVE updates on the Tesla Earnings Call will take place here in a thread 🧵
Follow along below: pic.twitter.com/hzJeBitzJU
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 22, 2026
The history here matters. HW3 launched in April 2019, and Tesla sold Full Self-Driving packages to owners on the understanding that the hardware was sufficient for full autonomy. Some owners paid between $8,000 and $15,000 for FSD during that period. For years, as FSD’s AI models grew more demanding, HW3 vehicles fell progressively further behind, eventually landing on FSD v12.6 in January 2025 while AI4 vehicles moved to v13 and then v14. When Musk acknowledged in January 2025 that HW3 simply could not reach unsupervised operation, and alluded to a difficult hardware retrofit.
The near-term offering is more concrete. Tesla’s head of Autopilot Ashok Elluswamy confirmed on today’s call that a V14-lite will be coming to HW3 vehicles in late June, bringing all the V14 features currently running on AI4 hardware. That is a meaningful software update for owners who have been frozen at v12.6 for over a year, and it represents genuine effort to keep older hardware relevant. Unsupervised FSD for vehicles is now targeted for Q4 2026 at the earliest, with Musk describing it as a gradual, geography-limited rollout.
For HW3 owners, the over-the-air V14-lite update is welcomed, and the discounted trade-in path at least acknowledges an old obligation. What happens next with the trade-in pricing will define how this chapter ultimately gets written. If Tesla prices the hardware path fairly, acknowledges what early adopters are owed, and delivers V14-lite on the June timeline it committed to today, it has a real opportunity to convert one of the longest-running sore subjects among early adopters into a loyalty story.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a miss on vehicle deliveries for the first quarter, delivering 358,023 vehicles and building 408,386 cars during the three-month span.
As Tesla transitions more toward AI and sees itself as less of a car company, expectations for deliveries will begin to become less of a central point in the consensus of how the quarter is perceived.
Nevertheless, Tesla is leaning on its strong foundation as a car company to carry forward its AI ambitions. The first quarter is a good ground layer for the rest of the year.
Tesla Q1 2026 Earnings Results
Tesla’s Earnings Results are as follows:
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.41 Reported vs. $0.36 Expected
- Revenues – $22.387 billion vs. $22.35 billion Expected
- Free Cash Flow – $1.444 billion
- Profit – $4.72 billion
Tesla beat analyst expectations, so it will be interesting to see how the stock responds. IN the past, we’ve seen Tesla beat analyst expectations considerably, followed by a sharp drop in stock price.
On the same token, we’ve seen Tesla miss and the stock price go up the following trading session.
Tesla will hold its Q1 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q1 2026 Earnings Call at 4:30pm CT https://t.co/pkYIaGJ32y
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 22, 2026
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors, top Wall Street firm says
Tesla Giga Texas buzzing as new Cybertruck appears to enter production
