Tesla Lifts 2026 Capex Guidance to $20 Billion After Q3 Cash Burn
TSLA sits 26% above its 52-week low of $297.38.
Summary
Tesla's CFO raised full-year capital spending guidance to $20 billion, disclosed the same day the company reported Q3 revenue of $28.05B and a 56% year-over-year drop in operating income to $718M as AI and R&D spending surged. The higher capex number tells investors the spending pressure that crushed Q2 profitability — capex jumped 142% YoY in that quarter — is continuing rather than easing. With free cash flow already under strain after Q2's first negative cash flow in two years, a bigger capital budget raises the odds of further margin and cash burn in coming quarters. The stock has been highly sensitive to spending headlines this year, with double-digit single-day drops following the Q2 AI spending disclosure.
At the time of this announcement, TSLA was trading at $373.65 on NASDAQ in the Energy & Transportation sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.5T. The 52-week trading range was $297.38 to $498.83. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Binance News.