Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) earnings call comes on the heels of the company’s Q3 2025 update letter, which was released after the closing bell on October 22, 2025.

Tesla’s Q3 2025 Results

As could be seen in Tesla’s Q3 2025 Update Letter, the company posted GAAP EPS of $0.39 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.50 per share. Tesla also posted total revenues of $28.095 billion. GAAP net income is also listed at $1.37 billion.

Tesla’s total revenue increased 12% YoY to $28.1 billion, while operating income decreased 40% YoY to $1.6 billion. This means that for Q3 2025, Tesla’s had a 5.8% operating margin. Tesla’s quarter-end cash, cash equivalents and investments was $41.6 billion by the end of the third quarter.

Earnings call updates

The following are live updates from Tesla’s Q3 2025 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.

16:25 CT – Good day to everyone, and welcome to another Tesla earnings call live blog. The Q3 2025 Update Letter seemed to be on the quieter side, but it’s hard not to be impressed with Tesla’s $4 billion free cash flow, an all-time high.

Now we just have to see how the earnings call will go.

16:30 CT – Looks like the earnings call’s livestream is up. It hasn’t started yet, but the music’s on. Here’s the livestream:

16:33 CT – One of the most fun things about Tesla earnings call coverages is that you don’t really know what type of Elon Musk you’re gonna get. The questions from investors and analysts are always fun too.

16:35 CT – And here we go. Travis Axelrod takes the floor and introduces Tesla’s executives.

16:36 CT – Elon’s opening remarks begin. He says Tesla is at a critical point because real-world AI is imminent. He states that he believes Tesla has the highest intelligence density. “It’s gonna be like a shockwave,” Elon said, highlighting that there are millions of cars out there that could become full self-driving with a simple software update.

16:38 CT – With Tesla achieving clarity on Unsupervised FSD, Musk stated that he feels “confident in expanding Tesla’s production.” He also noted that Tesla Energy is rising quickly, especially with products like the Powerwall and the Megapack. “We see the potential there for Tesla battery packs to improve the energy output per year of any given grid, the US or otherwise.”

16:40 CT – Elon also reiterated his prediction that Tesla Optimus could be the largest product in the world. A good reason for this is the fact that Tesla has scale, Musk stated. Musk also stated that it’s easy for users in the United States to test out FSD V14 for themselves. He also mentioned that Tesla is currently hard at work with Megapack 4.

“We look forward to unveiling Optimus V3 in Q1. I think it will be quite remarkable,” Musk said, adding that V3 will almost seem like a person in a robot suit.

16:45 CT – Musk summed up his opening remarks with a comment on Tesla’s updated mission.

“In conclusion, we’re excited about the updated mission of Tesla, which is sustainable abundance. We’re going beyond sustainable energy. We believe that with Optimus and self-driving, we can actually create a world where there is no poverty, where everyone has access to the finest medical care.

“Optimus will be an incredible surgeon. Imagine if everyone had access to an incredible surgeon. I think we’re headed to sustainable abundance, and I’m excited to work with the Tesla team to make that happen,” Musk said, summing up.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is preparing to report its earnings for the third quarter of 2025 this afternoon. Investors are looking for answers regarding the Robotaxi launch, energy division, potential future vehicle releases, Optimus, and demand stimulation without the tax credit.

Using the investor platform Say, Tesla allows investors to ask questions for the earnings call.

Tesla Q3 2025 earnings: What analysts expect

These are the top five questions that have been asked and voted for by investors of the company, and what we think about them:

• What are the latest Robotaxi metrics (fleet size, cumulative miles, rides completed, intervention rates), and when will safety drivers be removed? What are the obstacles still preventing unsupervised FSD from being deployed to customer vehicles?
  • What we think: Tesla should release some metrics about Robotaxi operation, but it has been cryptic about fleet size and other statistics in the past. Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said Safety Drivers should be removed ‘by the end of the year,’ and we imagine this will be reiterated during the call. Regarding Unsupervised FSD, Tesla has stated that safety is its priority moving forward with the FSD rollout and Robotaxi as well.

• What is demand/backlog for Megapack, Powerwall, Solar, or energy storage systems? With the current AI boom, is Tesla planning to supply power to other hyperscalers?
  • What we think: This is perhaps the only question of the five that Tesla will be totally forthcoming with, as it usually does not reveal vehicle plans or data on these earnings calls. However, it will be interesting to see if the company has any plans to supplement the increasing AI plans with its energy products. Energy falls under the radar with a lot of its achievements, so it really could be a major focus of this call if this question gets answered.

• What are the plans for new car models? Will Tesla build compact car models leveraging the unboxed Cybercab platform? Will Tesla build a traditional SUV and pickup truck on the Cybertruck platform?
  • What we think: Tesla does not unveil or release plans about projects on earnings calls, so we doubt there will be much color here from executives. Considering Tesla has put so much weight on autonomy in the U.S., we’re not necessarily convinced it will plan to do much more than Cybercab, and SUV and pickup trucks will likely be built on a different platform as well, if they’re offered at all. Musk isn’t sure about bringing the Model Y L to the U.S. market due to the “advent of self-driving.”

• What are the present challenges in bringing Optimus to market, considering app control software, engineering hardware, training general mobility models, training task-specific models, training voice models, implementing manufacturing, and establishing supply chains?
  • What we think: This will likely be where Tesla teases the capabilities of Optimus Gen 3, and comes up with some sort of rough date where it could show off the new design. Tesla has been using Optimus in its factories and other internal operations, so it’s likely we’ll hear some stories about that as well. Tesla is looking to refine the Optimus design so it is useful and capable in residential applications, and its hands are likely the biggest bottleneck as they are arguably the most crucial part of the product.

• Can you talk about demand stimulation avenues beyond affordability? Given the state of global politics, can Tesla’s brand elevate above the divisiveness and return global perception back to our inspirational roots of ludicrous performance, environmental good, and superior safety?
  • What we think: Tesla is going to flex its new Standard offerings now, and the company has been transparent that Musk’s political involvement will wind down in a timely manner, according to the proxy it released when it revealed his pay package. 

A new shareholder campaign is calling for Tesla investors to vote against Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO Performance Award, arguing it would deepen governance risks and weaken corporate accountability.

Ahead of Tesla’s Q3 2025 earnings report, a coalition of unions and watchdogs launched the “Take Back Tesla” initiative, urging investors to reject Musk’s pay proposal at next month’s annual meeting. The plan would grant the CEO additional shares worth nearly $1 trillion over ten years, expanding his ownership stake in the company to about 25%.

Unions and watchdogs argue that Elon Musk’s proposed plan rewards distraction

The Take Back Tesla campaign is backed by groups such as the American Federation of Teachers, Public Citizen, Americans for Financial Reform, Ekō, People’s Action, and Stop the Money Pipeline. 

As could be seen on the campaign’s website, the groups are arguing that Musk’s focus on political ventures and external businesses has distracted him from leading Tesla. The group’s website called Musk’s new CEO Performance Award “outrageous” as it involves an amount of wealth that is unreachable even by today’s top executives.

“In order to unlock the full amount of shares proposed in this compensation plan, Tesla’s value would need to increase dramatically to $8.5 trillion. As Tesla’s proxy statement points out, that would make Tesla roughly 2x as valuable as the most valuable company in the world (Nvidia) today. Arguably, growing Tesla’s value to double the value of Nvidia would justify paying Musk something like double the compensation of Nvidia’s CEO. 

“But the annual value of Musk’s trillion dollar pay package isn’t just 2 times what Nvidia’s CEO made last year (just under $50 million); it’s more than 2,000 times what Nvidia’s CEO made last year. At his current compensation of $49.9 million, it would take Nvidia’s CEO over 2,000 years to earn the amount that Elon Musk could earn, on average, per year for the next ten years,” the group argued.

Board defends package as necessary, though some pushback is present

Tesla’s board insists the compensation plan is essential to retain Musk and sustain the company’s innovation in AI, robotics, and self-driving technology. The automaker noted that previous skepticism from proxy firms such as ISS and Glass Lewis preceded a 20x rise in Tesla’s market capitalization since 2018, a feat that seemed unrealistic when it was proposed.

As noted in a CNBC report, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees a $300 billion pension fund, stated that while Tesla has been a great investment, he “vociferously opposes” Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO Performance Award. 

“Most of the time we’ve held Tesla stock, it has been a solid investment, it’s grown over time, and that’s why we haven’t chosen to dump it, he said, adding that he views Tesla’s Board as “insufficiently independent” since they have allowed Musk to be “absentee CEO.” Landers also argued that Tesla as a whole has failed to hit its targets when it comes to its Robotaxi program and its Full Self-Driving technology.

For context, Elon Musk has maintained that his 2025 CEO Performance Award is not designed for him to gather even more wealth. Instead, he stressed that it is required so that he could take a controlling stake in the company.