Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) posted its Q3 2024 earnings report after markets closed today. The results, which were discussed in the Q3 2024 Update Letter, were released after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
During the third quarter, Tesla produced a total of 469,796 vehicles, comprised of 443,668 Model 3/Y and 26,128 other models. Q3 deliveries were listed at 462,890 vehicles, comprised of 439,975 Model 3/Y and 22,915 other models.
Following are the key results of Tesla’s Q3 2024 earnings results.
Q3 2024 Shareholder Update → https://t.co/sXBSeLibSL
— Highlights
– Produced our 7 millionth vehicle at Fremont factory!
– Preparations for new vehicles remain underway (including more affordable models), which we'll begin launching in the first half of 2025
– Record gross… pic.twitter.com/is1UhqdH7r— Tesla (@Tesla) October 23, 2024
Revenue
In the third quarter of 2024, Tesla posted total revenues of $25.18 billion, with automotive revenues at $20.02 billion. In comparison, analysts polled by FactSet expected Tesla’s Q3 2024 revenue to hit $25.47 billion. Tesla’s company-compiled consensus listed a total revenue of $25.29 billion.
Earnings Per Share
Tesla’s non-GAAP earnings per share for the third quarter of 2024 was listed at $0.72, while GAAP EPS for Q3 2024 was listed at $0.62. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Tesla to post a profit of $0.59 per share, while Tesla’s company-compiled consensus listed an estimated EPS of $0.60 per share.
Profitability
Tesla posted $2.7 billion GAAP operating income in the third quarter. The company also posted $2.2 billion of GAAP net income and $2.5 billion of non-GAAP net income in Q3 2024.
Cash
Tesla posted an operating cash flow of $6.3 billion in the third quarter, as well as free cash flow (FCF) of $2.7 billion. The electric vehicle maker also noted that it saw a $2.9 billion increase in its cash and investments in the third quarter to $33.6 billion. This is a new record for the company.
COGS
Tesla is already a very efficient automaker, but the company is still optimizing its operations. As per the Q3 2024 Update Letter, Tesla’s cost of goods sold (COGS) per vehicle came down to its lowest level ever at ~$35,100 in the third quarter.
Operational Milestones
Tesla posted a number of operational milestones in the third quarter. As per the Q3 2024 Update Letter, Tesla increased its AI training compute by over 75% in Q3 2024. The Cybertruck also became the third best-selling EV in Q3 in the U.S., just behind the Model Y and Model 3. Moreover, over two billion miles have been driven cumulatively on FSD (Supervised) as of Q3, with more than 50% being on FSD V12.
Below is Tesla’s Q3 2024 Update Letter.
TSLA-Q3-2024-Update by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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Elon Musk
Tesla Phone? Not quite, but close: analyst
For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
News
Tesla reveals huge Cybercab detail in new guide for First Responders
Tesla revealed a major new Cybercab detail in a guide it released for First Responders, showing new territory in its beliefs and intentions for the ride-hailing-focused vehicle that entered production in April.
The First Responders Guide is released to give fire departments, paramedics, and other emergency personnel the proper guidance on what to do in the event of an accident, entrapment, or other situation that would require immediate attention.
On one of the pages of the First Responders Guide, Tesla revealed a stark detail about the Cybercab, which could help personnel enter the vehicle more easily in case of an emergency.
Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD
It shows Tesla has no intention of releasing any Cybercab units that were initially proposed for ride-hailing services for the general public with any manual controls, meaning a steering wheel or pedals:
“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or acceleration and brake pedals.”
New official Cybercab documentation from Tesla:
“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or… https://t.co/P6ut1mZyzr pic.twitter.com/yq6skl9s2J
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 27, 2026
This is a major development for those who continue to believe Tesla planned to release the Cybercab with any sort of manual controls so that passengers could take over if needed. However, when Tesla started manufacturing production versions of the Cybercab in Giga Texas earlier this year, they were spotted without a steering wheel or pedals.
It essentially confirms the company has no intentions of bringing manual controls to the car’s production versions. Some have argued that the likelihood of Tesla having something
There still are some Cybercab units out there with a steering wheel and pedals, and as Tesla said, these cars are engineering or test vehicles, which have Safety Monitors on board to help the car out of a precarious situation or emergency.
News
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ Release Notes: new capabilities and features
Tesla released the Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite to owners of Hardware 3 or AI3 vehicles today, adding several new features to the vehicles that were once believed to be capable of unsupervised self-driving.
Now, Tesla has released this modified suite to older Tesla vehicles, adding plenty of new features and capabilities.
Here are the full release notes for the suite:
- Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3. This allows HW3 to directly learn how to handle scenarios using HW4 V14 as a guide. This process unlocks the improvements that have been made to HW4 including Reinforcement Learning (RL) and offline models for HW3.
- Improved both proactive and reactive responsiveness across a wide variety of categories including navigation handling, merges and forks, pedestrian interactions, traffic lights, and vehicle cut-in scenarios.
- Improved general comfort in nominal scenarios through fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering and more consistent lane centering.
- Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities.
- Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, or at the Curbside.
- Speed Profiles are now available at all times, to further customize driving style preference.
These improvements, according to Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, help distill the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of AI3.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released
He added:
“It includes destination options and speed profiles on city roads, but more importantly significantly improved safety. We hope you’ll enjoy it, once the build ships wide.”
FSD v14 Lite is now rolling out to AI3 early-access customers. Based on the feedback, will rollout to more customers over the next few weeks.
This build distills the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute config of AI3. It includes destination…
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 29, 2026
Tesla will continue to roll out the v14 Lite suite more widely in the coming weeks, the company said.