Tesla CEO Elon Musk 'injects some realism' into Q1 earnings call

Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke successful a antithetic code during the company's first-quarter net telephone connected Wednesday. The champion mode to picture it is that helium was much subdued than accustomed connected these calls.

Take caller products, for example. Musk often promises immense technological leaps connected choky deadlines for Tesla's upcoming products (think Roadster oregon Cybertruck). This clip around, helium preached patience.

"I would present accidental that whenever you person an all-new merchandise with an all-new proviso chain, and everything is new, its maturation curve is ever a stretched S-curve. So you should expect precise dilatory archetypal accumulation for CyberCab and Semi," Musk said.

I'm not the lone 1 who noticed the difference.

"Tesla’s net calls are usually freewheeling affairs, with pulsating physics euphony and wildly optimistic projections from CEO Elon Musk, who often likes to crack crude jokes and giggle. Today was different," wrote Theo Wayt successful The Information.

"Instead of the emblematic sci-fi rhapsodies astir self-driving vehicles taking implicit the satellite and robots solving poverty, Musk spent overmuch of the telephone talking astir constraints connected his imaginativeness for Tesla."

Even though helium was overmuch much subdued during the archetypal 4th net call, a tiger can't alteration its stripes and Elon Musk can't wholly wantonness his inclination towards hyperbole erstwhile talking astir his companies.

During the call, helium said that portion FSD mentation 14.3 presently "represents a large architectural update," mentation 15, which is expected to motorboat by the extremity of this year, but surely adjacent year, volition beryllium a implicit overhaul of the existent system, making adjacent mentation 14.3 obsolete.

"I deliberation our information is importantly higher than quality driving, but mentation 15 volition instrumentality it to different level," Musk said.

But Musk truly dialed backmost expectations erstwhile helium talked astir Optimus.

During the company's fourth-quarter net call, helium said Tesla's near-term extremity was to discontinue Model S and Model X accumulation and person those assembly lines into manufacturing capableness for Optimus. He estimated that the institution would statesman accumulation successful the archetypal fractional of 2026 and would soon person capable capableness to marque 1 cardinal robots annually.

Whether determination is simply a marketplace for 1 cardinal humanoid robots annually remains to beryllium seen, but Musk admitted connected this telephone that adjacent conscionable converting the accumulation capableness is nary tiny task. And portion galore headlines focused connected Musk's aboriginal extremity of producing 10 cardinal Optimus robots annually, galore skipped implicit the dose of world helium besides delivered.

"Frankly, if we tin halt accumulation of a line, dismantle the full accumulation line, reinstall a wholly caller one, and get it up and moving wrong 4 months, that would beryllium an incredibly accelerated pace. I don’t deliberation immoderate different institution connected Earth has achieved this, conscionable to objectively clarify and inject immoderate realism into the existent situation," said Musk successful the Q1 net call.

Related: Tesla Full Self-Driving faces its biggest situation yet

"It is intolerable to dismantle specified a monolithic accumulation enactment overnight. This process volition instrumentality astatine slightest respective months. You past request to instal caller accumulation lines, supply each indispensable wiring and communication, and trial the machines connected the caller accumulation lines. This besides takes respective months," Musk said.

"I don’t cognize what the accumulation capableness of Optimus volition beryllium this year. It’s intolerable to predict."

In January, the institution said it would unveil the Gen 3 mentation of Optimus successful the archetypal quarter. Tesla did not bash truthful connected Wednesday.

Tesla missed expert gross expectations, reporting $22.39 cardinal vs. analysts' $22.64 billion, but net of 41 cents per stock topped estimates of 37 cents per share.

Revenue was 16% higher twelvemonth implicit year, including a 16% summation successful car gross to $16.2 cardinal from $14 cardinal past year.

Tesla delivered much than 358,000 vehicles successful the quarter, a 6% summation implicit past year. But Tesla has reported falling deliveries for 2 consecutive years.

Maybe the biggest quality to travel retired of the telephone was Musk's announcement that 2026 superior expenditures volition transcend $25 billion, portion escaped currency travel astatine the extremity of the 4th was astir $14 billion.

"While this whitethorn look substantial, and we volition look antagonistic escaped currency travel impacts for the remainder of the year, we judge this is the close strategical attack to presumption the institution for its adjacent era," said Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja.

In summation to the capex, Tesla says it is besides incurring costs for six factories that volition soon go operational arsenic it invests successful caller products similar the Cyber Taxi, Tesla Semi and Optimus.

Related: Tesla takes large plaything with caller exemplary successful cardinal market

This communicative was primitively published by TheStreet connected Apr 23, 2026, wherever it archetypal appeared successful the Automotive section. Add TheStreet arsenic a Preferred Source by clicking here.