Tesla Inc. (TSLA) reported first-quarter revenue of $24.1 billion late Tuesday, up 7.6% year-on-year, beating the $23.4 billion consensus. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.59, ahead of the $0.52 estimate. Vehicle deliveries totaled 462,800, in line with the company's flash announcement on April 2 but down 2% year-on-year amid a more competitive Chinese market.
Energy storage deployments hit a record 13.4 gigawatt-hours, more than doubling year-on-year, with associated revenue of $4.1 billion (+121%). Megapack and Powerwall demand has been a structural bright spot driven by AI data-center load growth and grid-modernization spending. Tesla guided to 2026 storage deployments of 60+ gigawatt-hours, up from 31 GWh in 2025. Energy gross margin expanded to 27.4% from 18.4% a year ago.
Auto Margin Pressure
Automotive gross margin (excluding regulatory credits) compressed to 16.4% — the lowest reading since Q1 2021 and below the 17.2% consensus. Average selling price slipped to $42,800 from $46,200 a year ago. CFO Vaibhav Taneja attributed the compression to "Chinese pricing pressure, European mix headwinds, and Cybertruck production-ramp inefficiency." Tesla initiated multiple Q1 price reductions in Shanghai, Berlin, and select U.S. markets to maintain volume.
Robotaxi commercialization remains the principal long-term catalyst. CEO Elon Musk on the conference call said the unsupervised Full Self-Driving rollout to "millions of vehicles" remains on track for late Q3, with Austin and San Francisco the first paid markets. Capital expenditure for fiscal 2026 was raised to $14 billion from $12 billion, with the increment "almost entirely AI inference infrastructure for FSD and Optimus."
Stock Reaction and Setup
Tesla shares slipped 4.8% in after-hours trade Tuesday, then traded down 2.7% to $232.40 in Wednesday's regular session. The stock is up 17% year-to-date but 22% below its December 2024 peak of $298. Implied volatility on at-the-money options compressed post-earnings to 38%, from 56% pre-print. Cathie Wood's ARK Invest added 482,000 TSLA