Tesla Inc
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Substance is not the problem: $45.4 billion of liquidity against $9.5 billion of debt as of 2026-09-30, a 56.7 percent equity ratio, $30 billion of undrawn credit commitments. As of September 30, 2026, Tesla is far from a going-concern warning, over-indebtedness or interest-coverage trouble. What remains open is the operating question, and the third quarter of 2026 did not answer it: $718 million of operating income on $28,046 million of revenue is 2.6 percent, better than the 1.4 percent of the prior quarter but less than half the prior-year quarter. Earnings halved from 2023 to 2025 while revenue stood still, regulatory credits keep disappearing, and capital expenditures climb before Robotaxi, driver assistance and robotics show up in a segment line of their own. That is why the rating stays yellow — neither green nor red. The stock is expensive on top of that — a trailing multiple around 475 leaves little room for disappointment. That is a price argument and does not set this rating; the operating question does. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Tesla books more than $100 billion of revenue over twelve months, has built its ten millionth vehicle and held $45,447M of liquidity against $9,523M of debt as of 2026-09-30 — plus $30 billion of undrawn credit commitments. The price sits in the same filings: $718M of operating income on $28,046M of revenue, 73 percent less in regulatory credits, stock-based compensation above operating income, $13,014M of capital expenditures in nine months, and a quarterly profit that in the prior quarter came three quarters from an investment remeasurement. Not investment advice.
Volume and market position
In the quarter ended 2026-09-30 Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles, 2 percent fewer than a year earlier; production rose 4 percent, and 10.2 million vehicles have been delivered since inception. Trailing twelve-month revenue topped $100 billion for the second quarter in a row. Energy storage deployments rose 10 percent to 13.7 GWh (8-K dated 2026-10-21, Exhibit 99.1).
Balance sheet and liquidity
As of 2026-09-30 Tesla held $45,447M of cash and short-term investments against $9,523M of debt and finance leases, $9,265M of which is non-recourse to the parent. Equity ratio 56.7 percent. Since 2026-09-29 Tesla has $30 billion of credit commitments, none of it drawn (8-Ks dated 2026-09-29 and 2026-10-21).
Earning power of the running business
Operating income fell 56 percent to $718M in the quarter ended 2026-09-30, and the operating margin from 5.8 to 2.6 percent — on practically flat revenue. Annually: $8,891M (2023), $7,076M (2024), $4,355M (2025). Research and development expense rose 69 percent in the quarter (8-K dated 2026-10-21).
Quality of earnings
In the quarter ended 2026-06-30, $1,005M of $1,329M pre-tax income came from remeasuring the SpaceX stake; in the quarter ended 2026-09-30 the stake cost $142M while bitcoin added $288M. Stock-based compensation of $1,165M exceeded operating income of $718M (8-K dated 2026-10-21, reconciliation table).
An earnings component that is disappearing
Automotive regulatory credits fell 73 percent to $113M in the quarter ended 2026-09-30; in 2025 they were still $1,993M and equal to 46 percent of total operating income. In its 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-06-30 Tesla cited governmental and regulatory actions that have restricted certain programs.
Investment load and compensation
Tesla spent $13,014M on capital expenditures from January to September 2026, against guidance above $25,000M for 2026 (10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-06-30). Free cash flow turned to +$1,531M in the third quarter, supported by $2,590M from working capital. In parallel runs a compensation award covering 423,743,904 shares with unrecognized expense of $105.82 billion to $120.37 billion (as of 2026-06-30).
Worth Noting
Hook of the first edition (2026-07-29): ranking of the 100 largest U.S. stocks by market capitalization (as of 2026-07-28); Tesla sat at rank 9 without an existing analysis.
Update of 2026-10-22: figures for the quarter ended 2026-09-30 from the Form 8-K earnings release dated 2026-10-21 (Item 2.02, Exhibit 99.1). The Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-09-30 had not been filed at press time; items only it carries remain dated 2026-06-30. Every filing from 2026-07-22 onward was reviewed, including the routine Form 144 (2026-09-08) and Form 4 (2026-09-09). Valuation metrics as of 2026-10-22.
Cyclical caveat: Tesla is an automaker and describes its industry as cyclical in its own quarterly report. Neither the 2023 earnings peak nor the 2026 trough works as an extrapolation. Net income in 2023 also contained a tax benefit, which is why it exceeded operating income ($14,997M against $8,891M).
Not to be confused: Tesla, Inc. was named "Tesla Motors Inc" until 2017-01-27 and has been a Texas corporation since 2024-06-13, no longer a Delaware one. Older lawsuits therefore continue before Delaware courts.
Analyses are evergreen; a daily share price is not a buy argument.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of October 22, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at TSLA since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 298.30 $ to 489.90 $ · Last price: 399.80 $ (As of: October 30, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 10/31/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Auto Manufacturers
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Inc TSLA | 1,593.8 | 346.7 | 138.9 | 19.3 | 4.2 | -2.9 | -9.2 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation TM | 231.8 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 16.8 | 7.9 | 5.5 | -2.4 |
| General Motors Company GM | 79.1 | 32.2 | 8.2 | 11.4 | 9.4 | -1.3 | 28.4 |
| BYD Co Ltd ADR BYDDY | 79.0 | 19.7 | 5.6 | 17.9 | 7.5 | -0.6 | -32.4 |
| Ferrari NV RACE | 69.6 | 37.0 | 22.1 | 51.6 | 31.1 | 7.0 | 1.2 |
| Ford Motor Company F | 49.4 | – | 50.7 | 7.1 | 5.7 | 1.2 | -1.8 |
| Honda Motor Co Ltd HMC | 44.2 | – | 5.0 | 17.5 | 8.8 | 0.5 | 15.1 |
| Stellantis NV STLA | 17.2 | – | 12.0 | 6.6 | 2.2 | -2.2 | -58.1 |
| Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN | 16.5 | – | -2.0 | 7.5 | -63.8 | 8.4 | -16.5 |
| Median of companies shown | 69.6 | 32.2 | 8.2 | 16.8 | 7.5 | 0.5 | -2.4 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7,000 | -667 | -675 | -0.31 | -124 | 4,753 | 22,664 |
| 2017 | 11,759 | -1,632 | -1,962 | -0.79 | -61 | 4,237 | 28,655 |
| 2018 | 21,461 | -388 | -976 | -0.38 | 2,098 | 4,923 | 29,740 |
| 2019 | 24,578 | -69 | -862 | -0.32 | 2,405 | 6,618 | 34,309 |
| 2020 | 31,536 | 1,994 | 721 | 0.22 | 5,943 | 22,225 | 52,148 |
| 2021 | 53,823 | 6,687 | 5,644 | 1.82 | 11,497 | 31,015 | 62,131 |
| 2022 | 81,462 | 13,656 | 12,587 | 3.62 | 14,724 | 44,704 | 82,338 |
| 2023 | 96,773 | 8,891 | 14,974 | 4.30 | 13,256 | 62,634 | 106,618 |
| 2024 | 97,690 | 7,076 | 7,130 | 2.04 | 14,923 | 72,913 | 122,070 |
| 2025 | 94,827 | 4,355 | 3,794 | 1.08 | 14,747 | 82,137 | 137,806 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.66 | -71.00 | 25,707 | 2.10 | 9.00 | 4,814 | 2,034 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.12 | -70.90 | 19,335 | -9.20 | 2.10 | 2,156 | 664 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.33 | -17.20 | 22,496 | -11.80 | 5.20 | 2,540 | 146 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.39 | -37.20 | 28,095 | 11.60 | 4.90 | 6,238 | 3,990 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.24 | -63.90 | 24,901 | -3.10 | 3.40 | 3,813 | 1,420 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.14 | 19.50 | 22,387 | 15.80 | 2.20 | 3,937 | 1,444 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.32 | -3.00 | 28,236 | 25.50 | 3.90 | 4,697 | -1,092 |
| 2026: Q3 | 0.22 | -43.60 | 28,046 | -0.20 | 2.80 | 6,263 | 1,531 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 1 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 1.74 | 1.17 – 2.28 | 107,858 | 4.9% | 35 |
| 12/31/2027 | 2.16 | 1.03 – 4.13 | 122,351 | 23.8% | 33 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 53.7% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $3.30B |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.59T |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $242.28B |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 80.1% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 18.2% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Tesla verkauft KI-Produkte und -Dienste unmittelbar an Kunden — Abonnements für das Fahrassistenzsystem FSD (Supervised), den Robotaxi-Fahrdienst (seit 3. September 2026 auch mit Cybercabs in Austin) und den humanoiden Roboter Optimus, dessen Produktion in Fremont im dritten Quartal 2026 begann; das Unternehmen beschreibt sich im Quartalsbericht selbst als darauf ausgerichtet, künstliche Intelligenz in die reale Welt zu bringen.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We are focused on bringing artificial intelligence into the real world, through products and services like FSD (Supervised) and Robotaxi, as well as working to develop and commercialize AI robots (including Optimus)."
Wir konzentrieren uns darauf, künstliche Intelligenz in die reale Welt zu bringen — über Produkte und Dienste wie FSD (Supervised) und Robotaxi sowie über die Entwicklung und Vermarktung von KI-Robotern (einschließlich Optimus).
10-Q · 2026-07-23 · View SEC filing
„We use AI to develop real-world applications, such as autonomous driving solutions and robots. We utilize vision-based technologies, systems and software to train our artificial neural networks, which are accelerated by our own in-house, custom designed inference chips."
Wir setzen KI ein, um Anwendungen für die reale Welt zu entwickeln, etwa Lösungen für autonomes Fahren und Roboter. Wir nutzen bildbasierte Technologien, Systeme und Software, um unsere künstlichen neuronalen Netze zu trainieren, die von eigenen, im Haus entworfenen Inferenz-Chips beschleunigt werden.
10-K · 2026-01-29 · View SEC filing
„We are also investing heavily in research and development to accelerate our AI, software and fleet-based profits for further revenue growth, which will negatively impact our profitability during this phase."
Wir investieren zudem stark in Forschung und Entwicklung, um unsere KI-, Software- und flottenbasierten Gewinne für weiteres Umsatzwachstum zu beschleunigen, was unsere Profitabilität in dieser Phase negativ beeinflussen wird.
10-Q · 2026-07-23 · View SEC filing
„We started providing Robotaxi rides using Cybercabs on September 3 in Austin."
Seit dem 3. September bieten wir in Austin Robotaxi-Fahrten mit Cybercabs an.
8-K · 2026-10-21 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 8-K 2026-10-21 · 10-Q 2026-07-23 · 10-Q 2026-04-23 · 10-Q 2025-10-23 · 10-Q 2025-07-24 · 10-K 2026-01-29 · 10-K 2025-01-30
Rated on October 22, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 5.2%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 15.6%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 0.5%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 3.6%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 18.0%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.2%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 35,683 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 17,028 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 4.1%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 18.7%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 33.6%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 13.6%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 41.6%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -8.2x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 6
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 68.1%
- Return on equity > 15% 4.6%
- ROCE > 15% 4.1%
- Expected return > 10% 42.1%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2026 | Taneja Vaibhav | Chief Financial Officer | Sell | 2,606 | 360.13 | 938,509 |
| Sep 5, 2026 | Taneja Vaibhav | Chief Financial Officer | Other | 6,539 | 0.00 | – |
The company
About the Company
Tesla, Inc. entwickelt, fertigt, least und verkauft Elektrofahrzeuge sowie Systeme zur Energieerzeugung und -speicherung in den USA, China und international.
- Employees
- 134,785
- Headquarters
- Austin, TX
- Address
- 1 Tesla Road, 78725 Austin, United States
- Phone
- 512 516 8177
- Website
- tesla.com
- IPO Date
- 06/29/2010
- ISIN
- US88160R1014
- Stock Split
- 3:1 on 08/25/2022
- Stock Split
- 5:1 on 08/31/2020
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Elon R. Musk | Co-Founder, Technoking of Tesla, CEO & Director | 1971 |
| Vaibhav Taneja | Chief Financial Officer | 1978 |
| Xiaotong Zhu | Senior Vice President of APAC & Global Vehicle Manufacturing | 1980 |
| Travis Axelrod | Head of Investor Relations | – |
| Brandon Ehrhart | General Counsel & Corporate Secretary | – |
| Franz von Holzhausen | Chief Designer | – |
| Roxanne Inskip-Kaye | Head of Operations - Electric Vehicle Business | – |
| John Walker | Vice President of Sales - North America | 1963 |
| Rodney D. Westmoreland Jr. | Director of Construction Management | – |
| Lars Moravy | Vice President of Vehicle Engineering | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 10/21/2026 Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 10/02/2026 Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 09/29/2026 Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement; Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/22/2026 Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: October 30, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.