From Decrypt · By Jose Antonio Lanz
In brief
Tesla's third-quarter net income fell 43% to $787 million on flat revenue of $28.05 billion, as research spending rose 69% and capital expenditures more than doubled to $4.73 billion.
Tesla began producing Optimus humanoid robots in Fremont, California; Musk targets 20,000 a week but says that will take at least a year, with outside deliveries around the end of 2027.
Tesla says it is trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of 2026 while a federal safety audit is open, with its sworn answers to regulators due October 30.
Tesla’s profit fell 43% last quarter to $787 million, down from $1.37 billion a year earlier, per its quarterly filing. The carmaker poured money into humanoid robots and driverless taxis while delivering about 2% fewer cars.
Revenue stayed flat at $28.05 billion, but operating profit, which is what’s left after the costs of running the business, fell 56% to $718 million. Research spending rose 69% to $2.76 billion, and capital expenditures, the money spent on factories and equipment, more than doubled to $4.73 billion.
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That spending targets two products headed for factory floors and city streets. Optimus is a humanoid robot meant to take over dangerous and repetitive jobs, and the Cybercab is a two-seat robotaxi (a self-driving taxi you summon from an app) with no steering wheel or pedals.
Tesla said Wednesday that Optimus has entered production, and an executive said on the earnings call that the company is trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of the year.
Optimus is now coming off a production line at Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory. “The bots coming off this line are the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured,” Tesla wrote in its shareholder letter.
Musk wants to reach 20,000 Optimus units a week, but said getting there will take at least a year because the design is still changing. He put deliveries to outside customers around the end of 2027 and called the robot’s hand the hardest hardware problem, along with whether it holds up beyond a month of use.
BitcoinBTC · USD$81,168−1.51%Oct 15Oct 17Oct 19Oct 21Oct 22$84.8k$83.5k$82.2k$80.9k24h HighHigh$84,78824h LowLow$81,081VolVol$1.8BMarket projectionsOdds by MyriadToday$80,000 to $82,000$80k–$82k52% chanceThis weekBelow $82,000Below $82k65% chance→Buy Bitcoin with USDTPowered by JupiterPrice data by CoinGeckoCoinGeckoMore Bitcoin news and projections →Tesla has missed Optimus targets before, including a goal of about 10,000 robots in 2025, and rivals are already in the race. Figure AI, a startup backed by Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia, unveiled its Figure 02 humanoid in 2024.