Instant Reaction: Tesla Beats Estimates, Hints at EV Demand Rebound
Bloomberg Tech
Bloomberg
4.4 • 69 Ratings
🗓️ 22 April 2026
⏱️ 15 minutes
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Summary
Tesla beat Wall Street’s profit expectations to start the year as the automaker said demand for its electric vehicles is rebounding around the globe, hinting at a possible recovery for its long-struggling automotive business.
Adjusted earnings rose to 41 cents a share in the first quarter, the company said Wednesday in a statement, higher than the 34-cent average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It’s the second straight quarter Tesla’s earnings have exceeded expectations.
Tesla said it “saw continued growth in demand for our vehicles” in parts of Asia-Pacific and South America, along with a rebound in North America and the Europe-Middle East region. The surprisingly optimistic comments come several weeks after the automaker reported one of its worst quarters of auto sales in years.
For instant reaction and analysis, Bloomberg Businessweek Daily hosts Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec speak with:
- Steve Man, Bloomberg Intelligence Global Autos and Industrials Research Analyst
- Ed Ludlow, Bloomberg Tech co-host
- Ross Gerber, President and CEO at Gerber Kawasaki
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Bloomberg Audio Studios. |
| 0:04.7 | Podcasts, Radio News. |
| 0:08.8 | This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg. |
| 0:12.8 | Instant reaction and analysis from our 3,000 journalists and analysts around the world. |
| 0:18.6 | Yeah, let's go right to Tesla. |
| 0:19.8 | It just crossed the Bloomberg terminal. |
| 0:21.5 | First quarter adjusted EPS folks, 41 cents a share, seven cents better than what the |
| 0:25.5 | street was expecting. |
| 0:28.3 | That was, that's adjusted EPS. |
| 0:31.3 | First quarter gross margin coming in stronger than forecast, certainly a sign of |
| 0:36.4 | profitability, 21.1% versus an estimate of |
| 0:39.7 | 17.7% first quarter revenue coming in slightly higher than what the street was forecasting, |
| 0:45.5 | Tim, 22.39 billion. The street estimate was for 22.19 billion. Okay, so some other headlines |
| 0:51.7 | crossed in the Bloomberg terminal. You mentioned free cash flow, but worth repeating, because it is a redhead, Carol, first quarter free cash flow, $1.44 billion. Okay. So some other headlines crossed in the Bloomberg terminal. You mentioned free cash flow, but worth repeating because it is a redhead, Carol. First quarter free cash flow, 1.44 billion. The estimate was for a negative $1.86 billion. The Tesla communications around earnings are a slide deck, so it's kind of tough to go through. But Tesla says that the cyber cab, the Tesla semi, the mega cap production starting in |
| 1:12.4 | 2026. |
| 1:13.4 | So that's this year. |
| 1:14.6 | Tesla also saying the first gen production lines for Optimus, that's the humanoid robot, |
| 1:19.3 | are being installed. |
| 1:20.3 | Tesla also saying that cyber cab and the Tesla semi are on schedule for 20206. |
| 1:26.2 | The company says seeing its rebounds and demand for |
| 1:29.5 | EMEA and North America. And we should note that the company also says that tailwinds are persisting |
| 1:36.0 | for the U.S. auto's business and it received approval for full self-driving in the Netherlands |
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