Tesla revises capital spending guidance to about $20 billion, secures $30 billion in debt funding

Tesla's chief financial officer, Vaibhav Taneja, said on the company's Q3 earnings call on Wednesday that Tesla is revising its capital expenditure guidance to about twenty billion dollars. Yahoo Finance reported that the new full-year figure is down from a prior forecast of $25 billion.

Funding. Taneja said the spending will be funded mainly by cash flow from operations. He said Tesla has also secured thirty billion dollars in shorter-term debt funding for future capital spending.

Tariff refunds. Taneja said money Tesla receives from tariff refunds is being used to expand U.S. manufacturing.

Earnings items. Taneja said net income was affected by mark-to-market changes in Tesla's SpaceX and Bitcoin holdings. Teslarati reported that he cited a Bitcoin gain of $290 million for the quarter. Taneja said Tesla ended the quarter with positive cash flow and that its automotive business exited the quarter with its highest backlog.

Where the money goes. Tesla's third-quarter update said capacity build-out is underway for SI compute, solar, battery materials and semiconductor manufacturing. On the call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla is laying the groundwork for more vehicle capacity as it aims for about five million vehicles a year by around 2030.

Musk also said Terafab, the chip fab Tesla and SpaceX are building in Texas, aims to make a useful chip at volume around the third quarter of 2028.

Earlier results. Tesla reported third-quarter revenue of $28.05 billion, roughly flat from a year earlier, and GAAP operating income of $718 million, down 56%. Free cash flow was $1.5 billion.