Tesla earnings call: Musk talks EV demand, Optimus production, and Terafab value

Tesla (TSLA) held its earnings conference call on Thursday after releasing third-quarter results

CEO Elon Musk said in his opening remarks that the quarter was strong, and he noted demand for the company's EVs is outpacing supply. Musk said Tesla (TSLA) is pushing hard for FSD approvals in more regions, including Europe. "We've been laying the groundwork for a lot more manufacturing capacity. We're aiming for 5 million vehicles a year by 2030," he stated.

Regarding Optimus, Tesla (TSLA) was noted to be in early production. He expects the Fremont facility to see a 20K-unit-a-week production rate in a year. The Optimus design is still being tweaked, and the AI is still being integrated, per Musk. He still expects Optimus to be an enormous deal in the future. "The growth of Optimus is an S curve, but the initial curve is a shallow slope. We have the vast majority of the 1 million unit/year line installed at Fremont," he noted.

On the cybercab rollout, the company expects to introduce the service in Dallas next month and then other cities in the months ahead.

Musk said a major goal is to be making some kind of useful chip at volume around Q3 of 2028. He thinks Terafab will have an economic value that will place it in a top 20 ranking of countries.

Musk said he had nothing new to offer on the SpaceX (SPCX) merger.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were down 2.7% in postmarket trading as the call was winding down.