Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

30 Jan 2026, 11:14 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $24.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.75 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 4.93%. Tesla’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Tesla’s conference call:

Tesla reported rapid progress on autonomy and Robotaxi rollout — unsupervised FSD rides are live in Austin, the fleet exceeds ~500 paid-ride vehicles, and management expects fully autonomous service in dozens of U.S. cities by year-end (regulatory approval permitting), supporting a large new recurring-revenue opportunity.
The company is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model after reaching nearly 1.1 million paid customers, which Tesla says will reduce upfront FSD revenue and will negatively impact automotive margins in the near term.
Tesla plans to more than double CapEx to >$20 billion in 2026 to fund six new factories (Optimus, Cybercab, Semi, refinery, LFP, Mega factory), AI compute, and factory expansions — a deliberate growth push that will materially increase near-term cash outlays and pressure free cash flow.
Energy continued strong momentum with record gross profit and $12.8 billion revenue (26.6% YoY); Tesla plans major scale-ups (Megapack 3, Megablock and a 100 GW/year solar cell ambition), indicating a potentially underestimated long-term growth vector.
Tesla will end Model S and X production next quarter and convert the Fremont SX lines into an Optimus factory targeting 1 million units/year, but executives cautioned Optimus will follow a stretched S-curve ramp and not be material immediately, making this a high-opportunity yet execution-risk strategic pivot.

Tesla Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA traded up $20.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $436.73. The stock had a trading volume of 30,698,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,802,621. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 403.89, a P/E/G ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $446.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $406.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.07. Tesla has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $498.83.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.40, for a total value of $26,724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 577,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $257,009,607.40. This represents a 9.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total transaction of $1,170,643.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,107,145.01. The trade was a 16.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 119,457 shares of company stock worth $53,501,145 in the last 90 days. 19.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Peloton Wealth Strategists bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Harvest Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Opulen Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Opulen Financial Group LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 91,773 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $38,804,000 after acquiring an additional 5,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 66.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 175,477 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $78,038,000 after acquiring an additional 70,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on TSLA. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $520.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.58.

View Our Latest Stock Report on TSLA

Trending Headlines about Tesla

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

Positive Sentiment: SpaceX merger speculation and related headlines boosted demand for Tesla shares as investors price in optionality from a Musk‑led consolidation that could create new AI/space/telecom synergies. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Tesla beat Q4 EPS and revenue expectations and disclosed 1.1M active FSD subscriptions and accelerating energy‑storage revenue — data points investors see as proof of diversified, software‑driven revenue potential. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Tesla’s $2B investment in Elon Musk’s xAI and analyst upgrades/price‑target raises from some firms reinforce the narrative that Tesla is becoming a “physical AI” leader rather than just an automaker. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: Tesla announced it will end Model S and Model X production to free Fremont lines for Optimus robot manufacturing — a structural pivot that reduces legacy luxury inventory but creates execution risk as factory conversion begins. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions — several firms maintained “buy” ratings or raised targets while others cut targets or reaffirmed sells/underweights — leave consensus polarized and amplify short‑term volatility. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Tesla signaled a major increase in 2026 capital expenditures (>$20B) to scale robotaxi, Optimus and new fabs — investors worry this accelerates cash burn and compresses margins before sizable robot/robotaxi revenue arrives. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: First‑ever annual revenue decline and sharply lower net income year‑over‑year remain fundamental red flags; some large brokers (notably a steep JPMorgan underweight/price‑cut) could pressure the stock if the narrative shifts to longer‑term execution risk.

Tesla Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean‑energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery‑electric vehicles and related services.