---
title: "It's Tesla Earnings Night Again: The Three Things the Market Cares About Most"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/283620048.md"
description: "Tesla released its first-quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday, but Wall Street is closely watching the sluggish expansion of Robotaxi, the unresolved mass production timeline for Optimus, and the valuation logic behind a chip manufacturing plan dubbed 'astronomical' in scale. Shares have fallen nearly 19% year-to-date, and Barclays warned that free cash flow could remain negative until 2029—this earnings report will be a pivotal moment for the market to recalibrate its narrative on Tesla"
datetime: "2026-04-22T08:02:04.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/283620048.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283620048.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/283620048.md)
---

# It's Tesla Earnings Night Again: The Three Things the Market Cares About Most

Tesla is set to release its first-quarter results after market close on Wednesday, but investors' focus extends far beyond quarterly profits or losses. Against the backdrop of sluggish Robotaxi expansion progress, an unclear mass production timeline for Optimus robots, and the sudden emergence of a chip manufacturing plan described as "astronomical" in scale, this earnings report will serve as a key node for the market to recalibrate its valuation narrative on Tesla.

According to FactSet data, Wall Street expects Tesla's adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter to be 37 cents, up from 27 cents in the same period last year; revenue is projected at $22.2 billion, representing approximately 15% year-over-year growth; and EBITDA is forecast at $3.2 billion, reflecting roughly 17% year-over-year growth.

However, Tesla has already disclosed that both electric vehicle sales and energy storage deployments fell short of market expectations, with weak fundamentals already priced into market sentiment. In a research report, Barclays analyst Dan Levy noted that Tesla shares have declined by approximately 19% year-to-date, underperforming the S&P 500 index by over 20 percentage points, reflecting investor disappointment regarding Robotaxi expansion progress and Optimus mass production prospects.

For the market, the earnings figures themselves may not be the largest variable. In a note to clients, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois warned that these results would "further highlight the gap between vision and execution" and could trigger external concerns about financing issues; he added that relevant outcomes might "strengthen" the logic behind a potential merger between Tesla and SpaceX. Barclays maintains a "Hold" rating on Tesla with a price target of $360. **During this earnings conference call, management guidance on capital expenditure, Robotaxi expansion, and Optimus progress will be the core variables determining the direction of market reaction.**

## Capital Expenditure: A Battle of Scale, Unresolved Uncertainties

Entering this earnings season, the most critical question for the market is whether Tesla will raise its capital expenditure guidance and if the financing path for mega-projects like Terafab will become clearer.

In its previous quarter's earnings report, Tesla provided a 2026 capital expenditure guidance of over $20 billion to support construction of six factories and production lines, including lithium refineries, LFP battery plants, Cybercab, Semi trucks, the Houston Gigafactory, and the Optimus production line, as well as the expansion of AI computing infrastructure. Tesla plans to increase the number of NVIDIA H100-equivalent GPUs from approximately 120,000 by the end of 2025 to around 280,000 by the end of June. **Barclays estimates that GPU procurement costs alone exceed $3.5 billion, with an additional $2.5 to $3 billion required for supporting infrastructure.**

However, the aforementioned $20 billion guidance explicitly excludes two major projects: the Terafab chip factory and solar panel factories. In March, Tesla unveiled the Terafab plan, aiming to build a chip manufacturing base capable of producing one terawatt of annual compute power—a scale approximately 50 times the current global AI compute output—with participation from SpaceX, Intel, and Super Micro Computer.

If fully realized, Terafab could entail total capital expenditures ranging from $5 trillion to $13 trillion; even focusing on near-to-mid-term ground-based chip production, an initial capacity target of 100 to 200 gigawatts per year might require investments between $500 billion and $1 trillion. Barclays considers Terafab currently lacking a specific construction timeline and financing plan, labeling it a "story yet to be validated."

Regarding solar energy, Tesla plans to establish 100 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity in the United States before 2028. Prior reports indicated that Tesla had been negotiating with Chinese suppliers for $2.9 billion worth of solar equipment, with deliveries planned before August this year; Barclays estimates this project requires at least $30 billion in capital expenditure.

Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco forecasts that Tesla's full-year capital expenditure could rise to $25–35 billion, estimating that under a $21 billion capex scenario, 2026 free cash flow would be negative $8.4 billion; FactSet data shows market consensus expects negative free cash flow exceeding $4.7 billion.

In response, GraniteShares CEO Will Rhind told MarketWatch: "Even if 2026 free cash flow expectations continue to be revised downward, Tesla still possesses the industry's strongest net cash position and balance sheet flexibility, sufficient to bet on all these directions simultaneously—this is precisely what supports its valuation premium." **Barclays, however, predicts that large-scale capital expenditure will lead to sustained negative free cash flow for Tesla, a situation that could persist until 2029.**

## Robotaxi: Accelerating Expansion, But Scalability Remains Questionable

The scaling progress of Robotaxi is the core narrative currently driving Tesla's valuation and remains one of the most watched topics in this earnings cycle.

Over the weekend, Tesla announced the expansion of Robotaxi services to parts of Dallas and Houston, whereas previously the service was only available in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area in California. This marks the first substantive geographic expansion since Tesla launched limited unsupervised services in Austin in January this year. Tesla also plans to extend services to at least nine cities by the end of June, including Las Vegas and three cities in Florida.

However, the reality of limited expansion scale versus investor expectations has triggered clear dissatisfaction. Crowdsourced tracking data shows that only four vehicles were recorded as operational across Dallas and Houston combined. Last July, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that Robotaxi services would be provided to about "half" of the U.S. population by the end of 2025; this goal, however, clearly went unfulfilled. On Tesla's investor platform, an investor holding 275,000 shares directly asked, "Why is the rollout of the Robotaxi network so slow?" Another shareholder queried, "Why is progress lagging less than 90 days after the last guidance?"

UBS analyst Joseph Spak stated in a research report earlier this month that he does not expect to see "meaningful scaling" in Tesla's target cities, maintaining a neutral rating with a price target of $352. He wrote: "We believe technology continues to improve and infrastructure will gradually mature, but given the importance of safety culture, Tesla's pace of progress will be relatively slow." **Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, pointed out that accelerated deployment of Robotaxi services is "critical" to supporting Tesla's high valuation.**

## Optimus: Expectations Await Fulfillment, Needs Verification

Beyond Robotaxi, Optimus robots represent another core growth narrative for Tesla, though they currently remain in a stage of "more demonstration than implementation," making management commentary during this earnings call crucial.

According to Say Technologies data, the most-watched question from shareholders on the investor platform is indeed the Optimus timeline. An investor holding 2.2 million shares asked: "When will Optimus V3 be released? With Model X and S production lines shutting down ahead of schedule mid-year, when will Optimus mass production begin?" Musk had previously indicated that Optimus V3 would debut in March, but ultimately only released a short promotional video, postponing the official launch to address related issues.

In January, he stated that Optimus would be available to the public by the end of 2027, with mass production starting later this year on some production lines originally intended for electric vehicles. Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein told MarketWatch: "By 2028, as Tesla begins generating revenue from its Robotaxi and robotics businesses, we should truly start seeing this shift reflected in financial data."

**Barclays takes a cautious stance on Optimus; currently, the firm includes only limited volume forecasts within its models for the next decade. However, Barclays also acknowledges that any specific progress disclosures regarding these projects would provide positive catalysts for the stock price.**

## Fundamentals: Weakness Already Priced In, Downside Risks Remain

Outside the three main themes, Tesla's core automotive business fundamentals continue to face pressure, although the market has largely anticipated this.

Barclays forecasts Tesla's first-quarter automotive gross margin (excluding regulatory credits and including equity-based compensation) to be approximately 14.4%, a sequential decline of about 350 basis points, primarily driven by: a sequential reduction in deliveries of approximately 60,000 units (a drop of about 14%), and rising raw material costs for steel, aluminum, copper, and precious metals. Partial offsetting factors include tariff refund benefits—Tesla's 100% U.S.-manufacturing nature positions it to receive IEEPA tariff refunds—as well as stable pricing and improved regional sales mix.

Regarding regulatory credits, Barclays expects first-quarter revenue to be approximately $300 million, down from $542 million in the previous quarter and $595 million in the same period last year. For the energy storage business, first-quarter deployments reached 8.8 gigawatt-hours, significantly below the market expectation of 14.4 gigawatt-hours; Barclays forecasts the segment's gross margin will decline from approximately 29% in the prior quarter to around 25%.

On a full-year basis, Barclays projects Tesla's 2026 delivery volume to be approximately 1.61 million units, lower than the 1.64 million units in 2025 and below the market consensus estimate of approximately 1.67 million units; full-year earnings per share are forecast at $1.57, below the market consensus of $1.94. Notably, market consensus estimates have been significantly revised downward from $3.82 a year ago, but Dan Levy believes the downside has not yet been fully priced in. Tesla shares have fluctuated widely over the past 12 months between $229.85 and $498.83, closing Tuesday at approximately $386, down 1.6%.

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