Tesla Q3 earnings call Tesla just said unsupervised Cybercab rides open to the public in Dallas next month, and it wants Cybercabs in real customers' hands before 2026 is out. Is that the moment the robotaxi story stops being a promise? Every highlight from tonight's Q3 call (5:30pm ET / 2:30pm PT), remarks and Q&A. THE NUMBERS Adjusted EPS $0.48 vs about $0.45 expected (Tesla-compiled consensus). Revenue $28.05B: a beat vs LSEG's $27.9B, a miss vs Tesla's own $28.34B. Gross margin 19.6%, up from 16.8% last quarter. Free cash flow back to +$1.53B after -$1.09B in Q2. Cash $45.4B, up 9% year on year. MUSK'S OPENING - Demand is ahead of production "by a significant margin", with FSD the biggest driver (paraphrased). - Over 75% of new North American deliveries now come with FSD (Supervised), nearly 20 points higher than last quarter (per @Tesla and @Teslaconomics). - The target: about 5 million vehicles a year by around 2030. He said Tesla has "a good shot" (clip via @electrickaos_). - Semi is in volume production, and he pointed to the Roadster demo. ROBOTAXI AND CYBERCAB - Unsupervised Cybercab rides for the public launch in Dallas next month, more cities before year end (@SawyerMerritt, @Schulz_Research). - The Austin Cybercab fleet has grown about 10x since launch a month ago (clip via @electrickaos_). - AI chief Ashok Elluswamy said customer-owned cars could start joining the Robotaxi fleet "somewhere around Q2 next year" (via @Schulz_Research, secondhand). - Musk: unless governments stop it, Tesla will end up doing a majority of all passenger miles in any country where it can operate (clip via @SawyerMerritt). FSD - Tesla is building its own maps for FSD, an "entirely new architecture with AI" that learns your preferences and the fleet's (Elluswamy, clip via @SawyerMerritt). - Europe: FSD is live in 9 EU countries. Musk said he'd be surprised if EU-wide approval took longer than Q1 2027 (via @teslanerdX, secondhand). OPTIMUS - Early production has begun on the high-volume line in Fremont, where most kit for a 1M-a-year line has landed. - Musk tempered expectations: the early ramp will be slow and bumpy, about a year (maybe longer) to reach 20,000 bots a week, and outside sales not before end of 2027 (via @TheHumanoidHub, @TheRealBagi, secondhand). - A new Optimus video of real autonomous tasks, not a scripted demo, could come in 1-2 months (via @TeslaZoa). Q&A - On training data, Musk said Optimus needs on the order of 10,000 bots to bootstrap its data flywheel, and Tesla is building an "Optimus Academy" where robots learn (via @TheHumanoidHub, paraphrased). - Asked if rivals can build their own FSD, Musk said there's really no competitor for FSD in any car (via @WOLF_Financial, paraphrased). - Merger: Musk took no questions on a SpaceX-Tesla merger on this call (via @chachaX72, secondhand). On SpaceX's call Tuesday he said both boards have special committees studying it; no terms agreed. ENERGY Megapacks are almost sold out for 2027, and Musk expects energy gross margins to "increase meaningfully" (clip via @electrickaos_). Storage hit 13.7 GWh in Q3. CAPEX AND CASH Tesla cut its 2026 capex guidance to about $20B, down from more than $25B in July, funded mainly from operating cash. It also lined up up to $30B of credit it doesn't plan to draw this year (via @Schulz_Research, secondhand). Q3 capex was $4.73B against roughly $7.8B expected. THE STOCK TSLA closed at $386.47 and was up about 1.8% after hours before the call. It turned lower as the call went on, to about -2% (secondhand, via @HOTSPOTSREPORTS). What matters most: Dallas Cybercab rides, the Optimus timeline, or the capex cut? Reply, quote this with your take, and share it with someone who missed it. The one to remember: 3 in 4 new Teslas in North America now leave the lot with FSD. Video: @Tesla, @robotaxi, @teslaeurope and @Tesla_Optimus footage, Tesla Q3 2026 Update deck; music: "City In The Rearview" by HoliznaCC0 (CC0)

A Tesla–SpaceX merger would need more than half of ALL Tesla shares to vote yes, not just more than half of the votes cast. At last year's turnout, that means about 2 in 3 of the votes that are cast. Are you sure your shares would count? Here's the maths. Tesla's certificate of formation (it's a Texas company) requires "a majority of the shares... entitled to vote... then outstanding" for any merger. @elonmusk said the same on SpaceX's call on Tuesday: Tesla needs a "50% vote of all shares, not just those who vote." So a share that doesn't vote counts the same as a no. If SpaceX buys Tesla, Tesla holders must vote. Texas law only lets a buyer skip a vote if it issues 20% or less in new shares, so either way a deal this size would almost certainly go to Tesla holders. In 2025, about 73–74% of Tesla's shares voted (Tesla's annual report; @Morningstar). If turnout were the same, yes votes would need to be about 68% of everything cast (50 ÷ 74, my own rough maths). Where things stand Nothing has been agreed. Musk said on the call that both companies have special committees of independent directors, and he can't take part because he's conflicted. They "have not reached agreement on the terms of any transaction", and "I don't think we should necessarily assume that a SpaceX and Tesla merger is a certainty." So there is no deal, no terms and no vote yet. The tool most retail holders don't know about @Tesla launched a Voluntary Retail Voting Program, built on a no-action letter from the SEC. It's a standing instruction to vote your shares with the board's recommendation at future meetings, so your shares still count even if you miss a vote. How to sign up: first vote for the 3 Dec 2026 annual meeting on ProxyVote.com or Say by Robinhood. The option to enroll then appears on the platform. It's free. Two important details: • It does NOT apply to the 3 Dec meeting, only to future meetings. So vote this one yourself • There are two options. "All Matters" includes mergers. The second option EXCLUDES "any acquisition, merger or divestiture" and contested director elections. If you want your shares to count on a merger, you'd have to pick All Matters One correction to a common idea: standing instructions don't give anyone an early count of support. Under the SEC framework, they're submitted once a definitive proxy is filed for a meeting, so they only show up in the tally after a deal has been put to shareholders. Tesla hasn't said whether it sees enrollment numbers before then. Also worth knowing: • All Matters means you vote with the board on everything, including items you might disagree with, until you change it • You can override it at any meeting just by voting, or cancel it any time for free. Your latest vote before the polls close wins • Musk holds about 15% and can vote it under Texas law (Reuters). No law requires a separate vote of only the non-Musk holders, but the committees could still choose to add one. We don't know yet • Retail holders own roughly 30% of Tesla by third-party estimates (secondhand). Tesla itself only says it has "one of the largest retail shareholder bases" Why I think it would be amazing (my opinion) Tesla designs AI chips, builds robots and runs Optimus. SpaceX has Starship, Starlink, 1.7 GW of AI compute and Grok. Put Terafab, robotaxis and AI satellites under one roof and you get the most ambitious technology company ever built. Musk said there's "a lot of merit" in combining them. I'd love to see it happen, but on terms that are fair to Tesla holders. The exchange ratio is everything. The honest counterpoint: voting with the board automatically means trusting the board on terms you haven't seen yet. Some holders will want to read the deal first, and that's a fair choice too. Not financial advice, and not a solicitation of any vote. Video: SpaceX & Tesla (official footage); screens: Tesla DEFA14A filing (SEC.gov). Music: Loyalty Freak Music, "One Cool Minute."

With Tesla there is no regular service schedule, just a short list of checks, bar brakes in salted-road areas. Ford, Hyundai, VW and Rivian all put their EVs on regular service schedules. One Ford dealer advertises a 60k-mile EV service from $1,320, including $900 of jobs Ford's own schedule doesn't call for yet. So why do they need it when Tesla doesn't? Are buyers being ripped off? I dug through the official schedules to find out 👇 Tesla's own support page says it plainly: "Your Tesla vehicle does not require annual maintenance or regular fluid changes." What @Tesla does list (US): • Rotate tires every 6,250 miles • Cabin air filter every 2 years (Model 3/Y) or 3 years (S/X) • Test brake fluid every 4 years, replace only if needed • Clean and lube brake calipers every year or 12,500 miles, only where roads are salted. Not needed on Model Y built after Feb 2025 • Everything else "as needed": alignment, radiator cleaning, the 12V battery Now the others, from their own schedules: • Hyundai Ioniq 5: inspection every 8,000 mi or 12 months. Cabin filter 16k, brake fluid 48k/4 yrs, reduction-gear oil inspected at 32k, coolant first at 120k • Ford Mustang Mach-E: service every 10,000 mi or 12 months. Brake fluid every 3 years, cabin filter 20k, drive-unit fluid at 150k, coolant first at 200k • Rivian R1: tire rotation 9,000 mi, inspection every 18 months, brake fluid every 3 years, coolant at 108k, salt-area caliper cleaning yearly • VW ID.4: service every 10,000 mi or 12 months • BMW i4/iX: condition-based, brake fluid replacement included The worst offenders: • Porsche Taycan: a $9,120 prepaid maintenance plan over 6 yrs/60k mi (US), on a car with no oil. Brake fluid every 2 yrs regardless of miles • Mercedes EQE/EQS: about $1,240–$1,400 per service at US dealers, every 2 yrs • Kia EV6/EV9: coolant every 24k mi after the first change at 120k, and a "severe use" list that includes salted roads and stop-and-go traffic • Renault (UK): its electric Megane service plan page lists "the replacement of engine oil and oil filters". On an EV. The honest case for scheduled service: • Brake fluid absorbs water over time. Ford, Rivian and BMW replace it every few years; Tesla tests it every 4. Both are legitimate • EVs have coolant loops for the battery and electronics, plus gear oil. Real, but the makers' own intervals are 100k+ miles • Inspections catch worn tires, suspension and brake corrosion. EV brakes are used less, so they can seize • Missing a manual's schedule can complicate a warranty claim Where it gets murky: the dealer menu. That Ford dealer's Mach-E "60,000-Mile EV Service" includes a $500 coolant flush and a $400 drive-unit fluid service. Ford's schedule calls for those at 200k and 150k miles. Its 30k service is $420, including a $299.99 brake fluid flush. Why would that happen? Franchise economics. NADA says US dealers made $164.6B in service and parts sales in 2025, at an average customer labour rate of $186 an hour. Presidio says fixed ops (service and parts) was 52.4% of the average dealer's gross profit in Q4 2025. Tesla sells direct, has no dealers, and wins nothing from a long menu. The fair counterpoints for Tesla: • You still pay for tires, and Teslas are heavy, so they can wear quickly • Brake jobs aren't free. One owner posted a Tesla estimate of $650 for a caliper clean: $216 for the job itself, plus diagnosis and test-drive labour at $240 an hour • In salt states the caliper service is a real job: EV brakes get little use and can seize. The debate is the price, not the job My take: most factory schedules are reasonable, and brake fluid, coolant and inspections are real jobs. But plans like Porsche's $9,120 are hard to justify on an EV. Always compare the dealer menu with the owner's manual. If the dealer quotes something the manual doesn't list yet, ask why. Video: @Tesla footage. Sources: Tesla, Ford, Porsche, Kia, Renault UK, NADA, Presidio

SpaceX will try to catch both halves of Starship with the launch tower on its next flight, Flight 15, which Elon Musk said on last night's earnings call should happen next month. If you're new to this: Starship has two stages, a giant booster called Super Heavy and the ship on top. Rockets have almost always been thrown away after one flight. SpaceX already reflies Falcon 9 boosters and has caught Super Heavy boosters with the "chopsticks", the two arms on the launch tower. No one has ever recovered a whole orbital rocket. What @elonmusk said on the call • "For Flight 15, which we expect to happen next month, we're going to attempt to catch both the booster and the ship." • If it works, "it will be the first time that an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered." • "Success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I'd say it's more likely than not." • The goal is to "immediately land the rocket and launch it again just like an airplane." @SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell added that SpaceX plans to "refly the second stage by early next year" and "attempt an on-orbit refueling early next year." Where things stand Flight 14 was Starship's first time reaching orbit and its first paying mission, carrying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. What full reuse would unlock • Cost: throwing the rocket away is the biggest cost in spaceflight. Reuse leaves mainly fuel and turnaround. • Starlink V3: SpaceX says each Starship launch is ramping toward over 20x the capacity of a Falcon 9 Starlink launch. • The Moon: Starship is NASA's Artemis III lander, and it must be refuelled in orbit by a string of tanker Starships first, which only works if flights are cheap and quick. • Mars: Musk said on the call that sustained life beyond Earth needs "a fully reusable orbital launch vehicle." Targets, not promises: weekly flights in the first half of 2027, and twice weekly or more by the end of 2027. What it could mean for $SPCX SPCX closed at $147.79 on Tuesday, then rose about 8% after hours and was up around 10% premarket this morning (about $162.70). Early moves can reverse. Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas said a successful catch could be a catalyst. Price targets going in: Mizuho $200, RBC $225, Cantor Fitzgerald $246. Risks: a failed catch, a lost vehicle, FAA delays, or slipping dates. Not financial advice. Video: @SpaceX

My take on the SpaceX/Tesla merger question. Both companies want it to happen. It will be up to us to make it happen.

I’m very content and happy I’m invested in what is going to be the biggest company the universe has ever seen. I think we can’t even imagine how big SpaceX is going to be!

Tesla and SpaceX are building their own chip factory in Texas. It's called Terafab, and the goal is to make more AI computing power every year than the entire chip industry does today. If you've never heard of it, here's the plain-English version. What it is Most chip companies design chips and pay someone else to make them, mainly TSMC and Samsung. Terafab is Musk's plan to make them in-house. @Tesla calls it "the largest chip manufacturing facility ever", with logic, memory and advanced packaging "under one roof". It's a joint project of Tesla and SpaceX, which now includes xAI. Where Grimes County, Texas, northwest of Houston. The Texas Governor's office describes a 100-million-square-foot facility. A smaller research fab broke ground in April on the North Campus of Giga Texas. Musk says that's where chip designs will be iterated. What it will make Chips for Tesla and SpaceX's own products. Tesla says Optimus alone needs 100–200GW of chips, plus terawatts for solar-powered AI satellites. Musk says Terafab will technically be two fabs, each making only one chip design. His stated target is about 80% of the compute going to space and 20% staying on the ground. The goal (a target, not a promise) Over 1 terawatt of compute per year. Musk's reasoning: US electricity is only about 0.5TW, so most of that compute has to go to space. Cost Phase 1 is a capital investment of more than $16.8B and 3,000 jobs, according to the Texas Governor's office, backed by a $30M Texas Enterprise Fund grant. Filings reported by Reuters and ENR show the total could reach about $119B if all later phases go ahead. Musk has said Terafab "will be over a trillion dollars long-term" if it reaches a terawatt a year. Timeline (targets) • 21 Mar 2026: announced • April: research fab breaks ground at Giga Texas • 6 Aug: Grimes County confirmed • 2026–28: Phase 1 construction, with commercial operations targeted for 2028 (county filings, via ENR) • Later phases are planned out to 2036 Partners Intel joined Terafab in April, per @SpaceX and @Tesla. Separately, Samsung's Texas fab has signed a deal with Tesla to make its AI5 and AI6 chips, so that's a different factory. On TSMC, Musk said on 7 Oct: "we will build and run the fab", and TSMC could at most sublease part of it. Why it matters Musk argues the chip industry only grows its output by about 20% a year, which is far too slow for robots, robotaxis and AI satellites at the scale he wants. "Either we make Terafab or we will be stuck at the ~20% chip/memory output growth per year of the current industry." It's also one of the clearest examples of Tesla and SpaceX building something together. Video: @Tesla @SpaceX