Investor's Corner
Tesla’s Q3 2018 earnings call: What we expect to see
In a rather surprising announcement on Monday, Tesla revealed that it was releasing its Q3 2018 earnings report after the closing bell on Wednesday. The earlier-than-expected earnings call appears to have fostered positive sentiments among the company’s investors, and coupled with a change of heart from a staunch TSLA short-seller, Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw a 12.72% rise on Tuesday, bringing the company within reach of the $300-per-share-mark once more.
While Tesla was able to hit its production and delivery targets in Q3, questions remain about whether the company was able to turn a profit as promised by CEO Elon Musk. That said, Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet expect Tesla to post revenue of $6.05 billion and a GAAP EPS of -$0.95, partly due to a major increase in Model 3 deliveries in the third quarter. Non-GAAP EPS consensus is a more favorable -$0.03.
With these in mind, here are some pertinent updates and information we are expecting to see in Tesla’s Q3 2018 earnings call.
Profitability and Cash-Flow Updates
Earlier this year, Elon Musk boldly declared that Tesla would be profitable and cash-flow positive in the second half of the year. The company went through great lengths in its efforts to achieve this ambitious target, from laying off 9% of its employees last June to allowing owners to help out the company deliver as many vehicles as possible in the final weeks of the third quarter.
Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet expect the company to report a modest amount of positive free cash flow for the third and fourth quarter. Non-GAAP EPS is also expected to improve to $0.78 in Q4. In the upcoming earnings call, Tesla would likely offer some updates on its profit outlook in its shareholder letter.
Model 3 Production and Margins
In Tesla’s Q2 shareholder letter, the company stated that it is aiming to grow Model 3 production to 10,000 units per week as soon as it can. Tesla also aimed to produce the Model 3 at a rate of 6,000 per week by late August — a goal that the company was unable to attain. In today’s earnings call, Tesla is expected to provide an updated guidance for the Model 3 ramp.
Back in August, Tesla noted that it expects Model 3 gross margins (GM) to improve to 15% and 20% in Q4. These figures are a bit more conservative than Tesla’s initial forecasts for the vehicle, which estimated gross margins to be at 25% when production is stabilized at 5,000 units per week. The upcoming earnings call should provide some guidance as to where the Model 3’s gross margins are at this point, and where it could be at the end of Q4.
The $35,000 base Model 3 and the Model Y
Tesla has pretty much hit its stride with the production of the Long Range RWD, Dual Motor AWD, and Dual Motor Performance Model 3. Earlier this month, the company also revealed the Mid Range RWD Model 3, a vehicle that places the electric car’s price closer to Elon Musk’s $35,000 starting price for the electric sedan. Considering that the company has left its self-imposed production hell, the time might be right for Tesla to provide some updated guidance as to when the long-promised $35,000 Model 3 would enter production.
Updates on other upcoming vehicles are also expected, particularly the next car in the company’s lineup — the Model Y. Considering that Elon Musk has teased an unveiling sometime early next year for the crossover SUV, there is a good chance that the upcoming Q3 2018 earnings call would provide a more concrete date for the highly-anticipated vehicle’s unveiling.
Tesla Energy Updates
Tesla Energy does not attract as many headlines as the company’s electric car business. Despite this, the company’s executives including CEO Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel have both noted that Tesla’s energy storage business would likely match the company’s electric car division in the near future. This was highlighted recently by legendary investor Ron Baron, who stated that Tesla could become a $1 trillion company by 2030, comprised of a $500 billion electric car division and a $500 billion battery storage business.
Wall Street analysts’ consensus for Tesla Energy estimates the business to post revenue of $377 million (up 19%), and a gross profit of just $20 million. Announcements on upcoming battery storage projects are also expected to be discussed in the upcoming call.
Tesla’s New Chairman
As part of his settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Elon Musk agreed to step down as Tesla’s Chairman. Reports eventually emerged that board member James Murdoch was in line to take on Musk’s role. These reports were eventually debunked by Elon Musk himself on Twitter, though, leaving Tesla’s next chairman still a large question mark.
On Wednesday’s earnings call, expectations are high that the company would provide some updates on its search for a new Chairman to replace Elon Musk. Other terms of the CEO’s settlement with the SEC, particularly the addition of two new independent board members, would likely be discussed as well.
Tesla’s Q3 Update letter would be posted on Tesla’s Investor Relations website after markets close today. At 3:30 pm Pacific Time (6:30 pm Eastern Time), Tesla would start its Q3 earnings call.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported strong delivery figures that beat Wall Street guesses, and they were revealed alongside the company’s second-best quarter in terms of energy deployments ever.
Tesla announced this morning that it delivered 486,532 cars in Q3, while producing 464,391, exceeding analyst consensus, which sat around 462,000 units.
Meanwhile, Tesla reported 13.7 GWh of energy storage deployed for the quarter. That’s the second-best quarter Tesla has ever reported on that side of things.
🚨 Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3, beating expectations at 464,391.
Big Q from the Tesla team, also 13.7 GWh of energy was deployed. pic.twitter.com/olioLWgG7a
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 2, 2026
Vehicle Deliveries
Deliveries were strong, and it was another quarter when Tesla had the opportunity to outshine the Wall Street pundits who are quick to criticize and slow to give credit. Tesla saw a slight decrease in deliveries compared to Q3 2025, but Tesla still had the $7,500 EV Tax Credit to use to help incentivize consumers to pick an EV.
A small decrease of 2.1 percent is pretty telling because it shows Tesla does not need massive federal credits to convince consumers to purchase its vehicles.
It was also the company’s third-best performance all-time in terms of deliveries, trailing that of Q3 2025 with 497,099 deliveries and Q4 2024, when the company handed over 495,570 cars.
We reported several days ago that Tesla Showrooms across the United States were completely bare of inventory or unclaimed units. Many locations also removed Demo Drive units, which had been bought by customers looking to take delivery sooner.
Tesla showrooms picked clean ahead of Q3 end as demand looks strong
Energy Generation
Tesla’s Energy Generation performance in Q3 was also very strong, as the company deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage over the past three months. The only quarter when Tesla reported stronger energy deployment figures was Q4 2025, when 14.2 GWh of energy storage was deployed.
Tesla’s Q3 performance in energy generation has continued to grow each quarter, with the company increasing its deployments by ten-fold since Q3 2021, when just 1.3 GWh was deployed.
It is also nearly double what it was in Q3 2024, when the company reported 6.9 GWh. This is one of Tesla’s quickest-growing divisions, and it flies under the radar with fans and analysts, as many are focused on self-driving or the vehicles themselves.
Tesla Stock
Shares rose 5.07 percent to $372.06 at just after 10 a.m. on the East Coast. This is a rarity for Tesla after a strong delivery report, as positive news usually brings the stock down. Many quarters with extremely robust delivery reports have not been as kind to the Teslanaires of the world.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk and Trump are closer than ever, and Tesla could be the big winner
Elon Musk sat beside Trump as AI leaders signed a voluntary White House safety accord.
Elon Musk had the seat right next to President Donald Trump on Tuesday as the White House hosted the leaders of America’s biggest artificial intelligence companies for a lunch that ended with a voluntary industry accord on AI safety.
A seating chart Trump posted on Truth Social placed Musk at the president’s left in the East Room, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on his right, according to an Associated Press reporter. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also attended, along with Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
🚨 Elon Musk is currently speaking to the media alongside President Trump after a meeting with AI Leaders in Washington today
Trump says AI is now being called “Super Intelligence” or SI pic.twitter.com/woJJqUVP9B
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 29, 2026
After the lunch, Trump told reporters outside the West Wing that the executives had signed “The White House Accord on Superintelligence: A Joint Commitment on Frontier SI Responsibilities.” Johnson described it as a voluntary statement of principles built on “robust internal controls and layers of internal and external review,” while Zuckerberg said company boards would independently review reports from outside auditors. Trump called the document “morally binding,” said he would name a new AI czar within days, and signed an executive order formally renaming artificial intelligence “super intelligence,” CNBC reported.
Musk was not in the room for Tesla alone. Since SpaceX absorbed xAI, he runs the company behind Grok and one of the largest AI training operations anywhere. On September 25, he said another 220,000 Nvidia GB300 chips would come online at Colossus 2 within a week, with more expected in November and December.
“I think it is worth highlighting the positive benefits of A.I. … S.I., pardon me.”
“Thank you.”@elonmusk catches his own slip after calling the technology “A.I.” while speaking alongside President Trump and other tech leaders, quickly correcting himself to “super… pic.twitter.com/fH7CFileNb
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 29, 2026
SpaceX confirms third massive compute deal at Colossus data center
Musk also used the trip to restate his energy ambitions. “SpaceX is aiming together with Tesla to do 200 gigawatts of solar production per year,” he said at an event in Washington. It is the same combined target he laid out that feeds directly into Terafab, the Tesla and SpaceX chip venture that will need enormous amounts of power.
The showing between Musk and Trump has come a long way, since the two had the very public split in mid 2025 after Musk opposed the “Big Beautiful Bill” and left DOGE. They reconciled at Charlie Kirk’s memorial that September, and Trump later called their relationship “good”. Since then, Musk has joined Trump’s China delegation in May and attended last week’s White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
For Tesla, that access to government official could pay dividends. As Teslarati noted in January, federal autonomy rules, NHTSA oversight and a single national standard for driverless vehicles all run through an administration Musk can more easily reach directly as Tesla works to scale Robotaxi and Cybercab beyond Texas.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) showrooms have been picked clean ahead of the end of the third quarter of the year, as demand looks to be strong and delivery estimates for new vehicles are pushed into late 2026 and early 2027.
Tesla appears to have sold out of many of its Model 3 and Model Y trim levels in the United States, as only the Model Y RWD and Model Y All-Wheel-Drive are available for delivery before the end of the year.
Additionally, many showrooms are either completely empty or void of all but just one demo unit within the buildings themselves in an effort to bolster what could be one of Tesla’s best quarters in vehicle deliveries in recent memory.
I’m at Tesla right now and when I walked into their showroom I was shocked to see it basically empty.
I asked one of the people working there where all of the cars are “Gone – it’s the end of the quarter and we’ve sold out of everything… including the display vehicles”So… pic.twitter.com/rN7s3gE6sJ
— Devin Olsen (@DevinOlsenn) September 25, 2026
All the cars are gone from Tesla Century City!
All they have is Model Y L, a self-driving video playing on the background. I guess the best product is no product. Either that or they just sold the showroom cars. pic.twitter.com/mzCjWaXwww
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) September 26, 2026
Show room is empty. I asked and they have sold the demo cars too. Delivery numbers better be outstanding! pic.twitter.com/jq5N28Q6tZ
— Electric Brawl (@3lectricBrawl) September 22, 2026
Additionally, when I spoke to the guys at Tesla Mechanicsburg two weeks ago, when I returned the Model Y L, their third hauler of the week had just arrived, and every vehicle on it, along with every vehicle in their delivery lot, was accounted for and had a name attached to it for delivery.
Talking to the guys at the Mechanicsburg showroom on Friday, they couldn’t believe they had ANOTHER hauler coming in of cars for delivery—and each was accounted for
No car just sitting in inventory. They’re expecting a BIG quarter, and this is more than just the Y L https://t.co/ce801GkKVv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 21, 2026
Tesla saw a 25 percent increase in deliveries in Q2 compared to the same quarter the year before. The vast majority of the 480,126 units it delivered, 467,762 vehicles to be exact, were the Model 3 and Model Y.
In Q3 2025, Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles, once again a figure that was dominated by the company’s two mass-market vehicles. Analysts have unusually wide predictions for this quarter, likely because so many firms missed the Q2 delivery figure by such a substantial margin; Wall Street predicted 408,000 cars, while Tesla delivered 480,000.
Goldman Sachs has Tesla slotted for 435,000 deliveries in Q3, while JPMorgan said it anticipates 482,000. The median guess is about 449,000 deliveries for Q3.
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