Tesla, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2025

Overview

We are focused on bringing artificial intelligence (“AI”) into the real world, through products and services like Full Self-Driving (“FSD”) (Supervised) and Robotaxi, as well as working to develop and commercialize AI robots (“Bots”) (including Optimus). We intend to leverage our current operations, in which we design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems that increasingly deliver AI-related and enhanced software and services to our customers, to achieve that objective. We generally sell our products directly to customers, and continue to grow our global retail, service and charging footprint to accelerate the widespread adoption of our products. We emphasize performance, attractive styling and the safety of our users and workforce in the design and manufacture of our products and are continuing to develop full self-driving technology for improved safety. We also strive to lower the cost of ownership for our customers through continuous efforts to reduce manufacturing costs and by offering financial and other services tailored to our products.

Our mission is building a world of amazing abundance. We believe that this mission, along with our engineering expertise, advancements in real-world AI, vertically integrated business model, and focus on user experience differentiate us from other companies.

Segment Information

We operate as two reportable segments: (i) automotive and (ii) energy generation and storage.

The automotive segment includes the design, development, manufacturing, sales and leasing of high-performance fully electric vehicles as well as sales of automotive regulatory credits. Additionally, the automotive segment also includes services and other, which includes sales of used vehicles, non-warranty maintenance services and collision, paid Supercharging sessions, automotive insurance business revenue, part sales and retail merchandise sales. The energy generation and storage segment includes sales, leasing, and financing of energy generation and storage products, services related to such products and sales of energy generation incentives.

Our Products and Services

Automotive

We currently manufacture five different consumer vehicles – the Model 3, Y, S, X and Cybertruck. Model 3 is a four-door mid-size sedan that we designed for manufacturability with a base price for mass-market appeal. Model Y is a compact sport utility vehicle (“SUV”) built on the Model 3 platform with seating for up to seven adults. Model S is a four-door full-size sedan and Model X is a mid-size SUV with seating for up to seven adults. Model S and Model X feature the highest performance characteristics and longest ranges that we offer in a sedan and SUV, respectively. The Cybertruck is a full-size electric pickup truck with a stainless steel exterior that has the utility and strength of a truck while featuring the speed of a sports car. In 2022, we also began early production and deliveries of a commercial electric vehicle, the Tesla Semi.

We have planned electric vehicles to address additional vehicle markets, and will continue leveraging developments in our proprietary Full Self-Driving (“FSD”) (Supervised) features, battery cell and other technologies. For purposes of this filing, use of the term “FSD (Supervised)” includes the equivalent naming convention, “FSD (Capability)” that is used in the European, Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. In June 2025, we launched our Robotaxi service, an autonomous ride-hailing platform that harnesses our technology and vehicles. We expect this service will open access to an expanded customer base as modes of transportation evolve, and, along with products such as FSD (Supervised) subscriptions, unlock the potential to advance a service-driven business model based on AI, software and fleet-based profits. Our Robotaxi business currently operates with Model Y vehicles but, in time, will include Cybercab, our purpose-built autonomous vehicle.

Energy Storage Products

Powerwall and Megapack are our lithium-ion battery energy storage products. Powerwall, which we sell and lease to customers, as well as through channel partners, is designed to store energy at homes or small commercial facilities. Megapack is an energy storage solution for commercial, industrial, utility and energy generation customers, multiple of which may be grouped together to form larger installations of gigawatt hours (“GWh”) or greater capacity. As AI infrastructure drives rapid load growth, Megapack helps to, among other things, increase utilization of existing generation and transmission capacity, resulting in a more efficient use of the electric grid.

We also continue to develop software capabilities for remotely controlling and dispatching our energy storage systems across a wide range of markets and applications, including through our real-time energy control and optimization platforms for Megapack batteries (Autobidder) and distributed energy resources like Powerwall (Powerhub).

Energy Generation Offerings

We sell energy generation systems directly to customers and also through channel partners. We design and manufacture certain components for our energy generation products, including solar panels and Solar Roof, which combines premium glass roof tiles with energy generation. We also purchase many components for our energy generation systems from various third-party manufacturers to provide for competitive pricing and adequate supply.

Technology

Automotive

Self-Driving Development and Artificial Intelligence

We use AI to develop real-world applications, such as autonomous driving solutions and robots. We utilize vision-based technologies, systems and software to train our artificial neural networks, which are accelerated by our own in-house, custom designed inference chips. We are also applying our artificial intelligence learnings from self-driving technology to Bots, such as Optimus, a general purpose, autonomous humanoid robot in development.

Currently, we offer in our customer vehicles certain advanced driver assistance systems. Although at present, same as in the past, the driver is responsible for remaining fully engaged in the driving operation, these systems provide safety and convenience functionality that may relieve drivers of many tedious and potentially dangerous aspects of road travel much like the system that airplane pilots use, when conditions permit. As with other vehicle systems, we improve these functions in our customer vehicles through over-the-air software updates. Every Tesla vehicle delivered today is designed for autonomy, and we believe our capabilities and advancements in AI differentiate us from our competitors.

Vehicle Control and Infotainment Software

The performance and safety systems of our vehicles and their battery packs utilize sophisticated control software. Control systems in our vehicles optimize performance, customize vehicle behavior, manage charging and control all infotainment functions. We develop almost all of this software, including most of the user interfaces, internally and update our vehicles’ software regularly through over-the-air updates, and work to actively improve our software security with every release.

Battery and Powertrain

Our core vehicle technology competencies include powertrain engineering and manufacturing and our ability to design vehicles that utilize the unique advantages of an electric powertrain. We have designed our proprietary powertrain systems to be adaptable, efficient, reliable and cost-effective while withstanding the rigors of an automotive environment. We offer dual motor powertrain vehicles, which use two electric motors to maximize traction and performance in an all-wheel drive configuration, as well as vehicle powertrain technology featuring three electric motors for further increased performance in certain versions of Model S and Model X, Cybertruck and the Tesla Semi.

We maintain extensive testing and R&D capabilities for battery cells, packs and systems, and have built an expansive body of knowledge on lithium-ion cell chemistry types and performance characteristics. In order to enable a greater supply of cells for our products with higher energy density at lower costs, we have developed a new proprietary lithium-ion battery cell and improved manufacturing processes.

Energy Storage Products

We leverage many of the component-level technologies from our vehicles in our energy storage products. By taking a modular approach to the design of battery systems, we can optimize manufacturing capacity of our energy storage products. Additionally, our expertise in power electronics enables our battery systems to interconnect with electricity grids while providing fast-acting systems for power injection and absorption. We have also developed software to remotely control and dispatch our energy storage systems. Further leveraging our capabilities in AI, every Tesla energy storage product is capable of being enhanced through firmware updates and optimized by our software platforms, particularly Powerhub (for distributed energy resources, including Powerwall-enabled virtual power plants) and Autobidder (for Megapack batteries).

Energy Generation Systems

We began manufacturing a new residential retrofit solar panel in 2025, and began initial customer deliveries in January 2026. We continue to manufacture Solar Roof, which has been engineered over numerous iterations to combine aesthetic appeal and durability with power generation. The efficiency of our energy generation products is aided by our own solar inverter, which incorporates our power electronics technologies. We designed both products to integrate with Powerwall.

Infrastructure

To support our businesses in clean energy and transport and autonomous robots, we are investing in and developing the necessary supporting infrastructure. This includes additional compute hardware to better enable the massive amounts of field data captured by our vehicles to continually train and improve these artificial neural networks for real-world performance. In 2025, we further expanded Cortex, our training cluster at Gigafactory Texas, and announced a new collaboration with Samsung to manufacture advanced semiconductors for AI inference and training in the U.S. We are currently building Cortex 2 at Gigafactory Texas to further increase our AI training compute capacity.

In 2026, we will be ramping six new production lines across vehicle, Bots, energy storage and battery manufacturing, while further leveraging our existing factory, charging and service center footprints to support future growth. We are also focused on exploring additional opportunities independently and with strategic partners to develop bespoke and scalable solutions, including through vertical integration, to optimize for cost, functionality, efficiency and safety.

Design and Engineering

Automotive

We have established significant in-house capabilities in the design and test engineering of electric vehicles and their components and systems. Our team has significant experience in computer-aided design as well as durability, strength and crash test simulations, which reduces the product development time of new models. We have also achieved complex engineering feats in stamping, casting and thermal systems, and developed a method to integrate batteries directly with vehicle body structures without separate battery packs to optimize manufacturability, weight, range and cost characteristics.

We are focused on maximum capacity utilization at our factories, while taking action to localize our vehicle designs and production for particular markets, including country-specific market demands and factory optimizations for local workforces. As we increase our capabilities, particularly in the areas of automation, die-making and line-building, we are also making strides in the simulations modeling these capabilities prior to construction.

Our expertise in electrical, mechanical, civil and software engineering allows us to design, engineer, manufacture and install energy generating and storage products and components, including at the residential through utility scale. For example, the integrated design of our Megapack products are intended to significantly reduce the amount of assembly required in the field. We also customize solutions including our energy storage products, energy generation systems and/or Solar Roof for customers to meet their specific needs.

Sales and Marketing

Historically, we have been able to achieve sales without relying on traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs. We continue to monitor our public narrative and brand, and tailor our marketing efforts accordingly, including through investments in customer education and advertising as necessary.

Automotive

Direct Sales

Our vehicle sales channels currently include our website and a global network of company-owned stores. In some jurisdictions, we also have galleries to educate and inform customers about our products, but such locations do not transact in the sale of vehicles. We believe this infrastructure enables us to better control costs of inventory, manage warranty service and pricing, educate consumers about electric vehicles, make our vehicles more affordable, maintain and strengthen the Tesla brand and obtain rapid customer feedback.

We reevaluate our sales strategy both globally and at a location-by-location level from time to time to optimize our sales channels. However, sales of vehicles in the automobile industry tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to volatility from time to time.

Used Vehicle Sales

Our used vehicle business supports new vehicle sales by integrating the trade-in of a customer’s existing Tesla or non-Tesla vehicle with the sale of a new Tesla vehicle. The Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles we acquire as trade-ins, along with vehicles returned upon lease-end are subsequently remarketed, either directly by us or through third parties.

Public Charging

We have a growing global network of Tesla Superchargers, which are our industrial-grade, high-speed vehicle chargers. Where possible, we co-locate Superchargers with our solar and energy storage systems to reduce costs and promote renewable power. Supercharger stations are typically placed along well-traveled routes and in and around dense city centers to allow vehicle owners the ability to enjoy quick, reliable charging along an extensive network with convenient stops. Use of the Supercharger network either requires payment of a fee or is free under certain sales programs. We offer Supercharger access to non-Tesla vehicles in support of our mission, with all major automakers announcing their adoption of the North American Charging Standard (NACS) in certain markets. We continue to monitor and increase our network of Tesla Superchargers in anticipation of future demand, including with respect to our Robotaxi services.

We also work with a wide variety of hospitality, retail and public destinations, as well as businesses with commuting employees, to offer additional charging options for our customers, as well as single-family homeowners and multi-family residential entities, to deploy home charging solutions. To accelerate dependable charging ubiquity, Superchargers are also available through our Supercharger for Business program, where third parties can purchase and install Superchargers and set the charging price, while Tesla remains responsible for software updates, network operations, maintenance and driver support. In 2025, we opened the first Tesla Diner in California, which offers Supercharging as well as Tesla themed food and merchandise.

In-App Upgrades

As our vehicles are capable of being updated remotely over-the-air, our customers may purchase additional paid options and features through the Tesla app or through the in-vehicle user interface, which also allows us to offer certain options and features on a subscription basis.

We market and sell our solar and energy storage products to residential, commercial and industrial customers and utilities through a variety of channels, including through our website, stores and galleries, as well as through our network of channel partners, and in the case of some commercial customers, through PPA transactions. We emphasize simplicity, standardization and accessibility to make it easy and cost-effective for customers to adopt clean energy, while reducing our customer acquisition costs.

Service and Warranty

Automotive

Service

We provide service for our electric vehicles at our company-owned service locations and through Tesla Mobile Service technicians who perform work remotely at customers’ homes or other locations. Servicing the vehicles ourselves allows us to identify problems and implement solutions and improvements faster than traditional automobile manufacturers and their dealer networks. The connectivity of our vehicles also allows us to diagnose and remedy many problems remotely and proactively.

Vehicle Limited Warranties and Extended Service Plans

We provide a manufacturer’s limited warranty on all new and used Tesla vehicles we sell directly to consumers, which may include limited warranties on certain components, specific types of damage or battery capacity retention. We also currently offer optional extended service plans that provide coverage after the new vehicle limited warranties end for certain models in specified regions.

Energy Generation and Storage

We provide service and repairs to our energy product customers, including under warranty where applicable. We generally provide manufacturer’s limited warranties with our energy storage products and offer certain extended limited warranties that are available at the time of purchase of the system. If we install a system, we also provide certain limited warranties on our installation workmanship.

For retrofit energy generation systems, we provide separate limited warranties for workmanship and against roof leaks, and for Solar Roof, we also provide limited warranties for defects and weatherization. For components not manufactured by us, we generally pass-through the applicable manufacturers’ warranties.

As part of our energy generation system and energy storage contracts, we may provide the customer with either certain availability or performance guarantees that commit that the underlying system will meet or exceed certain availability or minimum energy generation or performance requirements specified in the contract.

Financial Services

Automotive

Purchase Financing and Leases

We offer leasing and/or loan financing arrangements for our vehicles in certain jurisdictions in North America, Europe and/or Asia ourselves and through various financial institutions. Under certain of such programs, we have provided resale value guarantees or buyback guarantees that may obligate us to cover a resale loss up to a certain limit or repurchase the subject vehicles at pre-determined values.

Insurance

In 2021, we launched our insurance product using real-time driving behavior in select states, which offers rates that are often better than other alternatives and promotes safer driving. Our insurance products are currently available in 13 states and we plan to expand the markets in which we offer insurance products, as part of our ongoing effort to decrease the total cost of ownership for our customers.

We offer certain financing options to our residential customers, including a new lease product that was launched in the fourth quarter of 2025, which enable choices to our customers to purchase and own or lease energy systems comprised of solar and/or Powerwall batteries. Our solar PPAs, offered primarily to commercial customers, charge a fee per kilowatt-hour based on the amount of electricity produced by our energy generation systems.

Manufacturing

We currently have manufacturing facilities in the U.S. in California, New York, Texas and Nevada. At these facilities, we manufacture and assemble, among other things, vehicles, certain vehicle parts and components, such as our battery packs and battery cells, energy storage components and systems and solar products and components.

Internationally, we also have manufacturing facilities in China and Germany, which allows us to increase the affordability of our vehicles for customers in local markets by reducing transportation and manufacturing costs and limiting the impact of unfavorable tariffs. Generally, we continue to expand production capacity at our existing facilities, and strive to increase cost-competitiveness in our significant markets by strategically adding local manufacturing, including through partnerships with suppliers.

Supply Chain

Our products use parts sourced from thousands of suppliers globally. We have developed close relationships with key partners that supply battery cells, electronics and complex vehicle assemblies. Certain components purchased from these suppliers are shared or are similar across many product lines, allowing us to take advantage of pricing efficiencies through economies of scale.

As is the case for some OEM companies, some of our procured components and systems are sourced from single suppliers. Where multiple sources are available for certain key components, we work to qualify multiple suppliers for them where it is sensible to do so in order to minimize potential production risks due to disruptions in their supply. We also mitigate risk by maintaining safety stock for key parts and assemblies and die banks for components with lengthy procurement lead times.

Our products use various raw materials including aluminum, steel, lithium, nickel and copper. Pricing for these materials is governed by market conditions and may fluctuate due to various factors outside of our control, such as supply and demand and market speculation. We strive to execute long-term supply contracts for such materials at competitive pricing when feasible, and actively manage supply of raw materials to meet the needs of our operations. We continue to localize and de-risk our supply chains across regions, including through vertical integration where possible, such as our in-house lithium refinery in Texas, which began operations in January 2026.

Governmental Programs, Incentives and Regulations

Globally, the ownership of our products by our customers is impacted by various government credits, incentives, and policies. Our business and products are also subject to numerous governmental regulations that vary among jurisdictions.

The operation of our business is also impacted by various government programs, incentives, and other arrangements. See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Programs and Incentives

Inflation Reduction Act Modified by the OBBBA

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) was enacted into law and is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022. The IRA included multiple incentives to promote clean energy, electric vehicles, battery and energy storage manufacture or purchase, including through providing tax credits to consumers. These IRA incentives were subsequently substantially curtailed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) enacted on July 4, 2025, which repeals individual consumer tax credits for electric vehicles and residential energy property, and imposes more stringent eligibility requirements, accelerated phase-outs, and termination of certain provisions, although some of the IRA incentives remain available under the revised requirements.

Automotive Regulatory Credits

We earn tradable credits in the operation of our automotive business under various regulations. We sell these credits globally to other regulated entities who can use the credits to comply with emission standards and other regulatory requirements. Sales of these credits are recognized within automotive regulatory credits revenue in our consolidated statements of operations included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Governmental and regulatory actions, such as the OBBBA, have restricted certain regulatory credit programs tied to our products.

Energy Storage System Incentives and Policies

While the regulatory regime for energy storage projects is still under development, there are various policies, incentives and financial mechanisms at the federal, state and local levels that support the adoption of energy storage.

For example, energy storage systems may be eligible for the U.S. federal tax credits described below. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has also taken steps to enable the participation of energy storage in wholesale energy markets. In addition, California and a number of other states have adopted procurement targets for energy storage, and behind-the-meter energy storage systems qualify for funding under the California Self Generation Incentive Program. Our customers primarily benefit directly under these programs. In certain instances our customers may transfer such credits to us as contract consideration. In such transactions, they are included as a component of energy generation and storage revenues in our consolidated statements of operations included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Pursuant to the IRA, as modified by the OBBBA, under Sections 48, 48E and 25D of the Internal Revenue Code (”IRC”), standalone energy storage technology is eligible for a tax credit between 6% and 50% of qualified expenditures, regardless of the source of energy, which may be claimed by our customers for storage systems they purchase or by us for arrangements where we own the systems. Residential credits expired on December 31, 2025, and commercial credits are currently scheduled to phase out in 2034 or later.

Energy Generation System Incentives and Policies

U.S. federal, state and local governments have established various policies, incentives and financial mechanisms to reduce the cost of solar energy and to accelerate the adoption of solar energy. These incentives include tax credits, cash grants, tax abatements and rebates.

In particular, pursuant to the IRA, as modified by the OBBBA, Sections 48, 48E and 25D of the IRC provides a tax credit between 6% and 70% of qualified commercial or residential expenditures for solar energy generation systems, which may be claimed by our customers for systems they purchase, or by us for arrangements where we own the systems for properties that meet statutory requirements. Residential credits expired on December 31, 2025. Commercial credits are currently scheduled to expire for solar facilities placed in service after December 31, 2027, subject to the exceptions of projects beginning construction on or before July 4, 2026.

Regulations

Vehicle Safety and Testing

In the U.S., our vehicles are subject to regulation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), including all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”) and the NHTSA bumper standard. Numerous FMVSS apply to our vehicles, such as crash-worthiness and occupant protection requirements. Our current vehicles fully comply and we expect that our vehicles in the future will fully comply with all applicable FMVSS with limited or no exemptions; however, FMVSS are subject to change from time to time. As a manufacturer, we must self-certify that our vehicles meet all applicable FMVSS and the NHTSA bumper standard, or otherwise are exempt, before the vehicles may be imported or sold in the U.S.

We are also required to comply with other federal laws administered by NHTSA, including the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, Theft Prevention Act requirements, labeling requirements and other information provided to customers in writing, Early Warning Reporting requirements regarding warranty claims, field reports, death and injury reports and foreign recalls, a Standing General Order requiring reports regarding certain crashes involving vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems, and additional requirements for cooperating with compliance, defect and safety investigations and recall reporting. The U.S. Automobile Information and Disclosure Act also requires manufacturers of motor vehicles to disclose certain information regarding the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, optional equipment and pricing. In addition, federal law requires inclusion of fuel economy ratings, as determined by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”), and New Car Assessment Program ratings as determined by NHTSA, if available.

Our vehicles sold outside of the U.S. are subject to similar foreign compliance, safety, environmental and other regulations. Many of those regulations are different from those applicable in the U.S. and may require redesign and/or retesting. Some of those regulations impact or prevent the rollout of new vehicle features.

Regulation of Autonomous Vehicles and Autonomous Vehicle Ride-Hailing

Generally, laws pertaining to autonomous vehicles are evolving globally, and in some cases may impose restrictions on our features or vehicle designs.

In the U.S., while NHTSA has updated certain FMVSS to account for autonomous vehicle design, other FMVSS and regulations do not currently account for autonomous vehicle design and additional rulemaking by NHTSA may occur. These requirements are in addition to manufacturer reporting obligations, and NHTSA retains the authority to investigate and/or take action on the safety or compliance of any vehicle, equipment or features operating on public roads. Additionally, certain U.S. states and cities have legal restrictions on, or are considering additional regulation of, the testing, commercial operation, marketing, registration and licensure of autonomous vehicles, including commercial ride-hailing with a fleet of autonomous vehicles, and many other states and cities are considering them. This regulatory patchwork increases the legal complexity with respect to autonomous vehicles and an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing business in the U.S.

In Europe and other countries that follow the regulations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (“ECE countries”), some requirements restrict the design of both advanced driver-assistance and autonomous systems, which can compromise or prevent their use entirely. On a European Union level, additional layers of regulatory frameworks may impose further obligations in areas such as risk management, data-governance, trainings, technical documentation. Meanwhile, on a national level, the enforcement of certain applicable regulations may vary. Proposed national laws may further hinder or complicate the path of both advanced driver-assistance and autonomous vehicle systems, including the timeline for introducing autonomous vehicles for sale and use in ECE countries. Additionally, certain national and city laws within each ECE country may impose legal restrictions on the marketing of advanced driver-assistance and autonomous vehicle systems, and may vary significantly on commercial ride-hailing with a fleet of autonomous vehicles, in areas such as licenses, permits, competition prohibitions, tariffs and other transport services obligations. When coupled together, the layers of regulation as well as the fragmentation across each ECE country may hinder or complicate the path and timeline to introducing autonomous vehicles and an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing business in them.

Other key markets, including China, continue to develop and establish driver-assistance and autonomous vehicle regulations. Any implemented regulations may differ materially from U.S. and ECE countries. These differences may further increase the legal complexity of introducing, or availability to introduce, driver-assistance and autonomous vehicles for sale and use, including an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing business, and could result in additional delays, compliance costs, or restrictions on the deployment of certain capabilities in specific jurisdictions.

Automobile Manufacturer and Dealer Regulation

In the U.S., state laws regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale and service of automobiles, and generally require motor vehicle manufacturers and dealers to be licensed in order to sell vehicles directly to residents. Certain states have asserted that the laws in such states do not permit automobile manufacturers to be licensed as dealers or to act in the capacity of a dealer, or that they otherwise restrict a manufacturer’s ability to deliver or perform warranty repairs on vehicles. To sell vehicles to residents of states where we are not licensed as a dealer, we generally conduct the sale out of the state. In certain of these states, we have opened “galleries” that serve an educational purpose and where sales may not occur.

Some automobile dealer trade associations have both challenged the legality of our operations in court and used administrative and legislative processes to attempt to prohibit or limit our ability to operate existing stores or expand to new locations. Certain dealer associations have also actively lobbied state licensing agencies and legislators to interpret existing laws or enact new laws in ways not favorable to our ownership and operation of our own retail and service locations. We expect such challenges to continue, and we intend to actively fight any such efforts.

Battery Safety and Testing

Our battery packs are subject to various U.S. and international regulations that govern transport of “dangerous goods,” defined to include lithium-ion batteries, which may present a risk in transportation. We conduct testing to demonstrate our compliance with such regulations.

We use lithium-ion cells in our high voltage battery packs in our vehicles and energy storage products. The use, storage and disposal of our battery packs are regulated under existing laws and are the subject of ongoing regulatory changes that may add additional requirements in the future. We have agreements with third party battery recycling companies to recycle our battery packs, and we are also piloting our own recycling technology.

Solar Energy—General

We are subject to certain state and federal regulations applicable to solar and battery storage providers and sellers of electricity. To operate our systems, we enter into or facilitate for our customers standard interconnection agreements with applicable utilities. Sales of electricity and non-sale equipment leases by third parties, such as our leases and PPAs, have faced regulatory challenges in some states and jurisdictions.

Solar Energy—Net Metering

Most states in the U.S. make net energy metering, or net metering, available to solar customers. Net metering typically allows solar customers to interconnect their energy generation systems to the utility grid and offset their utility electricity purchases by receiving a bill credit for excess energy generated by their energy generation system that is exported to the grid. In certain jurisdictions, regulators or utilities have reduced or eliminated the benefit available under net metering or have proposed to do so.

Competition

Automotive

The worldwide automotive market is highly competitive and we expect it will become even more competitive in the future as a significant and growing number of established and new automobile manufacturers, as well as other companies, have entered, or are reported to have plans to enter the electric vehicle market.

We believe that our vehicles compete in the market based on both their traditional segment classification as well as their propulsion technology. For example, Cybertruck competes with other pickup trucks, Model S and Model X compete primarily with premium sedans and premium SUVs and Model 3 and Model Y compete with small to medium-sized sedans and compact SUVs, all of which are extremely competitive markets. Competing products typically include internal combustion vehicles from more established automobile manufacturers; however, many established and new automobile manufacturers have entered or have announced plans to enter the market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles. Overall, we believe these announcements and vehicle introductions promote the development of the electric vehicle market by highlighting the attractiveness of electric vehicles relative to internal combustion vehicles. Many major automobile manufacturers have electric vehicles available today in major markets including the U.S., China and Europe, and other current and prospective automobile manufacturers are also developing electric vehicles. In addition, several manufacturers offer hybrid vehicles, including plug-in versions.

As we seek to become a top provider of autonomous solutions, we also face competition in the fields of AI and robotics. We expect our Robotaxi service to compete in this developing market, along with traditional ride-hailing and taxi services, through continued progress on our FSD (Supervised) and neural network capabilities, Supercharger network and infotainment offerings.

Energy Storage Systems

The market for energy storage products and services is also highly competitive, and both established and emerging companies have introduced products and services that are similar to our product portfolio or that are alternatives to the elements of our systems or software service offerings. We compete with these companies based on price, energy density, efficiency, optimization and performance. We believe that the specifications and features of our products, our strong brand and the modular, scalable nature of our energy storage products give us a competitive advantage in our markets.

Energy Generation Systems

The primary competitors to our energy generation business are the traditional local utility companies that supply energy to our potential customers. We compete with these traditional utility companies primarily based on price and the ease by which customers can switch to electricity generated by our energy generation systems. We also compete with solar energy companies that provide products and services similar to ours. Many solar energy companies only install solar energy systems, while others only provide financing for these installations. We believe we have a significant expansion opportunity with our offerings, including in terms of the aesthetics, superior performance and ease of installation and integration with Powerwall of our solar panels, and that the environment is increasingly conducive to the adoption of renewable energy systems.

Intellectual Property

We place a strong emphasis on our innovative approach and proprietary designs which bring intrinsic value and uniqueness to our product portfolio. As part of our business, we seek to protect the underlying intellectual property rights of these innovations and designs such as with respect to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, confidential information and other measures, including through employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements and other contractual arrangements. For example, we place a high priority on obtaining patents to provide the broadest and strongest possible protection to enable our freedom to operate our innovations and designs across all of our products and technologies as well as to protect and defend our product portfolio. We have also adopted a patent policy in which we irrevocably pledged that we will not initiate a lawsuit against any party for infringing our patents through activity relating to electric vehicles or related equipment for so long as such party is acting in good faith. We made this pledge in order to encourage the advancement of a common, rapidly-evolving platform for electric vehicles, thereby benefiting ourselves, other companies making electric vehicles and the world.

Human Capital Resources

Tesla’s ability to attract, develop and retain a talented workforce is a competitive advantage. As of December 31, 2025, our employee headcount worldwide was 134,785.

We emphasize stock ownership opportunities, with 92% of employees included in total rewards packages, alongside industry-leading benefits like free counseling, paid parental leave, and comprehensive healthcare options available from day one. Hiring, evaluation, and promotion decisions are based on skills and performance, with over 29,000 employees globally advancing their careers in 2025, and 69% of managers promoted internally.

Tesla fosters a culture of recognition and growth, enabling employees to contribute meaningfully from day one. Programs such as internships, military fellowships, and development pathways—like the Manufacturing Development Program and Engineering Development Program—provide skill-building and career progression. These initiatives, including Apprenticeships and START training, combine academic and hands-on learning to prepare technicians and leaders, while educational assistance programs support approximately 7,000 learners in fields like engineering and AI. Across Tesla Shanghai and APAC region, robust programming, including internships, trainee and apprenticeship programs created pathways for employees to develop. In partnership with educational partners, interns, apprentices and trainees are able to obtain skills necessary to grow their careers at Tesla. In Berlin and EMEA, educational programs, such as FlexLearn and Dual Study program provided employees the opportunity to pursue education goals. FlexLearn allows employees to further develop with tailored training that aligns with our factories. The Dual Study program combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience with graduates receiving industry related degrees. Overall, Tesla programs supported employees to develop practical training, provided mentorship, and structured transitions to fill roles in manufacturing, service, R&D, and energy sectors across the region.

Tesla is committed to providing a workplace where employees feel respected, satisfied and appreciated. Policies prohibit harassment, violence, and discrimination, with mandatory anti-harassment training for all employees and ongoing development for leaders. We actively support the hiring, retention and advancement of exceptional talent, including but not limited to veterans, disabled veterans and individuals with disabilities. As of December 31, 2025, in the U.S., 2.2% of our employees are veterans or active-duty military personnel, 3.5% of our employees identified as individuals with disabilities and 1.1% of our employees identified as veterans or active-duty military personnel with disabilities. Our military partnerships and development programs noted above help to directly and indirectly support these employees. Engagement efforts, such as Tesla’s Pulse survey with 86% global participation, ensure employee feedback shapes company strategies. Safety and health remain core values, with accessible channels for reporting concerns and dedicated HR partners to address issues promptly.

Our Compensation Committee generally oversees our human capital management strategy, and regularly receives updates and reviews certain management practices related to Tesla’s talent, including how Tesla recruits, develops and retains excellent talent. The Committee directly interacts and engages with members of Tesla’s management, including members from the human resources, compliance and legal teams to review and evaluate people-related initiatives, employee feedback, risks and opportunities. The Committee also monitors developments in human capital management practices and recommends revisions to Company policies and practices as appropriate. The Company continually seeks to improve its workplace. By integrating employee insights and maintaining robust training, Tesla aims to sustain a respectful, innovative environment where talent thrives, directly contributing to its mission of building a world of amazing abundance.

Available Information

We file or furnish periodic reports and amendments thereto, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. In addition, the SEC maintains a website (www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov)) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically. Our website is located at www.tesla.com (http://www.tesla.com), and our reports, amendments thereto, proxy statements and other information are also made available, free of charge, on our investor relations website at ir.tesla.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such information with the SEC. The information posted on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

You should carefully consider the risks described below together with the other information set forth in this report, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and future results. The risks described below are not the only risks facing our company. Risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to Our Ability to Grow Our Business

We may experience issues or delays in developing, launching and ramping the production of our products, services and features, or we may be unable to control our manufacturing costs.

We are developing new technologies and services, unique manufacturing processes and design features in our products. There is no guarantee we will be able to successfully develop or timely introduce and scale these new products, services and features, or that there will be widespread consumer adoption. We also have previously experienced and may in the future experience launch and production ramp delays.

In particular, our future business depends on development of our driver assistance systems and autonomous driving solutions and increasing the production of mass-market vehicles, including Cybercab, our purpose-built Robotaxi product. In order to be successful, we will need to further advance our capabilities in AI, and implement, maintain and ramp efficient and cost-effective manufacturing capabilities, processes and supply chains and achieve the design tolerances, high quality and output rates we have planned at our manufacturing facilities. We will also need to hire, train and compensate skilled employees to operate these facilities. Bottlenecks and other unexpected challenges such as those we experienced in the past may arise during our production ramps, and we must address them promptly while continuing to improve manufacturing processes and reducing costs. If we are not successful in achieving these goals, we could face delays in establishing and/or sustaining our product ramps or be unable to meet our related cost and profitability targets. Similarly, we are also developing Bots for future commercialization, and we may experience delays in launching and ramping the production of this product.

We have experienced, and may also experience similar future delays in launching and/or ramping production of our energy storage products and Solar Roof; new product versions or variants; new vehicles; and future products, features and services based on artificial intelligence. Likewise, we may encounter delays with the design, construction and regulatory or other approvals necessary to build and bring online future manufacturing facilities and products. In addition, as we continue to develop our artificial intelligence services and products, we may face many additional challenges, including the availability and cost of energy, processing power limitations and the substantial power requirements for our data centers.

Any delay or other complication in ramping the production of our current products or the development, manufacture, launch and production ramp of our future products, features and services, or in doing so cost-effectively and with high quality, may harm our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our suppliers may fail to deliver components according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, or we may be unable to manage these components effectively.

Our products contain thousands of parts purchased globally from hundreds of suppliers, including single-source direct suppliers, which exposes us to multiple potential sources of component shortages. Unexpected changes in business conditions, materials pricing, including inflation of raw material costs, labor issues, wars, trade policies, natural disasters, health epidemics, trade and shipping disruptions, port congestions, cyberattacks and other factors beyond our or our suppliers’ control could also affect these suppliers’ ability to deliver technologies or components to us or to remain solvent and operational. U.S. trade policy alterations in 2025, including heightened import tariffs and subsequent retaliatory measures, have impacted our supply chain costs, and may impact the availability of certain technologies or components, depending on the exact scope of the tariffs ultimately implemented and retaliatory export controls. Additionally, if our suppliers do not accurately forecast and effectively allocate production or if they are not willing to allocate sufficient production to us, or face other challenges such as insolvency, it may reduce our access to components and require us to search for new suppliers. The unavailability of any component or supplier could result in production delays, idle manufacturing facilities, product design changes and loss of access to important technology and tools for producing and supporting our products, as well as impact our capacity expansion and our ability to fulfill our obligations under customer contracts. For example, as companies, including Tesla, have made rapid advancements in AI in recent years, such innovation demands exponentially greater compute, memory, energy and thermal resources, which may prove insufficient in scale or affordability to meet our requirements. Moreover, significant increases in our production or product design changes by us have required and may in the future require us to procure additional components in a short amount of time. We have faced in the past, and may face suppliers who are unwilling or unable to sustainably meet our timelines or our cost, quality and volume needs, which may increase our costs or require us to replace them with other sources. Finally, as we construct new manufacturing facilities and add production lines to existing facilities, we may experience issues in correspondingly increasing the level of localized procurement at those facilities. While we believe that we will be able to secure additional or alternate sources or develop our own replacements for most of our components, there is no assurance that we will be able to do so quickly or at all. Additionally, we may be unsuccessful in our continuous efforts to negotiate with existing suppliers to obtain cost reductions and avoid unfavorable changes to terms, source less expensive suppliers for certain parts and redesign certain parts to make them less expensive to produce, especially in the case of increases in materials pricing. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

As the scale and variants of our production increases, we will also need to accurately forecast, purchase, warehouse and transport components at high volumes to our manufacturing facilities and servicing locations internationally. If we are unable to accurately match the timing and quantities of component purchases to our actual needs or successfully implement automation, inventory management and other systems to accommodate the increased complexity in our supply chain and parts management, we may incur unexpected production disruption, storage, transportation and write-off costs, which may harm our business and operating results.

We may be unable to meet our projected construction timelines, costs and production ramps at new factories, or we may experience difficulties in generating and maintaining demand for products manufactured there and related services.

Our ability to increase production of our vehicles and energy products on a sustained basis, make them affordable globally by accessing local supply chains and workforces and streamline delivery logistics is dependent on the construction and ramp of our current and future factories. The construction of and commencement and ramp of production at these factories are subject to a number of uncertainties inherent in all new manufacturing operations, including ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements, procurement and maintenance of construction, environmental and operational licenses and permitting, supply chain constraints, hiring, training and retention of qualified employees and the pace of bringing production equipment and processes online with the capability to manufacture high-quality units at scale. Moreover, we will have to establish and ramp production of our proprietary battery cells and packs at our new factories, and we additionally intend to incorporate sequential design and manufacturing changes into vehicles and energy products manufactured at each new factory. If we experience any issues or delays in meeting our projected timelines, costs, capital efficiency and production capacity for our new factories, expanding and managing teams to implement iterative design and production changes there, maintaining and complying with the terms of any debt financing that we obtain to fund them or generating and maintaining demand for the vehicles and energy products we manufacture there, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition may be harmed. Such delays could also in turn affect our ability to meet demand for our services, such as Robotaxi, which are dependent upon the production and deployment of Tesla vehicles.

We may be unable to grow our global product sales, delivery and installation capabilities and our servicing and vehicle charging networks, or we may be unable to accurately project and effectively manage our growth.

Our success will depend on our ability to continue to expand our sales capabilities. We are targeting a global mass demographic with a broad range of potential customers, in which we have relatively limited experience projecting demand and pricing our products. We currently produce numerous international variants at a limited number of factories, and if our specific demand expectations for these variants prove inaccurate, we may not be able to timely generate deliveries matched to the vehicles that we produce in the same timeframe or that are commensurate with the size of our operations in a given region. Likewise, as we develop and grow our energy products and services worldwide, our success will similarly depend on our ability to correctly forecast demand in various markets.

Because we do not have independent dealer networks, we are responsible for delivering all of our vehicles to our customers. As our production volumes continue to grow, we have faced in the past, and may face challenges with deliveries at increasing volumes, particularly in international markets requiring significant transit times. We have also deployed a number of delivery models, such as deliveries to customers’ homes and workplaces and touchless deliveries, but there is no guarantee that such models will be scalable or be accepted globally. Likewise, as we ramp our energy products, we are working to substantially increase our production and installation capabilities. If we experience production delays or inaccurately forecast demand, our business, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Moreover, because of our unique expertise with our vehicles, we recommend that our vehicles be serviced by us or by certain authorized professionals. If we experience delays in adding servicing capacity or servicing our vehicles efficiently, or experience unforeseen issues with the reliability of our vehicles, particularly higher-volume additions to our fleet such as Model 3 and Model Y, it could overburden our servicing capabilities and parts inventory. Similarly, the increasing number of Tesla vehicles also requires us to continue to rapidly increase the number of our Supercharger stations and connectors throughout the world. As we seek to expand our Robotaxi and Semi business we must also accurately forecast, develop and optimize our service and charging capabilities to ensure service quality.

There is no assurance that we will be able to ramp our business to meet our sales, delivery, installation, servicing and vehicle charging targets globally, that our projections on which such targets are based will prove accurate or that the pace of growth or coverage of our customer infrastructure network will meet customer expectations. These plans require significant cash investments and management resources and there is no guarantee that they will generate additional sales or installations of our products, or that we will be able to avoid cost overruns or be able to hire additional personnel to support them. As we expand, we will also need to ensure our compliance with regulatory requirements in various jurisdictions applicable to the sale, installation and servicing of our products, the sale or dispatch of electricity related to our energy products and the operation of Superchargers. If we fail to manage our growth effectively, it may harm our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We will need to maintain and significantly grow our access to battery cells, including through the development and manufacture of our own cells, and control our related costs.

We are dependent on the continued supply of lithium-ion battery cells for our vehicles and energy storage products, and we will require substantially more cells to grow our business according to our plans. Currently, we rely on suppliers such as Panasonic and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) for these cells. We have to date fully qualified only a very limited number of such suppliers and have limited flexibility in changing suppliers. Any disruption in the supply of battery cells from our suppliers could limit production of our vehicles and energy storage products. In the long term, we intend to supplement cells from our suppliers with cells manufactured by us, which we believe will be more efficient, manufacturable at greater volumes and more cost-effective than currently available cells. However, our efforts to develop and manufacture such battery cells have required, and may continue to require, significant investments, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve these targets in the timeframes that we have planned or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail our planned vehicle and energy storage product production or procure additional cells from suppliers at potentially greater costs, either of which may harm our business and operating results.

In addition, the cost and mass production of battery cells, whether manufactured by our suppliers or by us, depends in part upon the prices and availability of raw materials such as lithium, nickel and/or other metals. The prices for these materials fluctuate and their available supply may be unstable, depending on market conditions, trade policies, refining capacity and global demand for these materials. For example, as a result of increased global production of electric vehicles and energy storage products, suppliers of these raw materials may be unable to meet our volume needs. Additionally, our suppliers may not be willing or able to reliably meet our timelines or our cost and quality needs, which may require us to replace them with other sources. Any reduced availability of these materials may impact our access to cells and our growth, and any increases in their prices may reduce our profitability if we cannot recoup such costs through increased prices. Moreover, our inability to meet demand and any product price increases may harm our brand, growth, prospects and operating results.

Our future growth and success are dependent upon demand for our electric vehicles and adoption of autonomous driving solutions.

If the market for electric vehicles in general and Tesla vehicles in particular does not develop as we expect, develops more slowly than we expect, or if demand for our vehicles decreases in our markets or our vehicles compete with each other, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

In addition, electric vehicles still constitute a small percentage of overall vehicle sales. As a result, the market for our vehicles could be negatively affected by numerous factors, such as:

• perceptions about electric vehicle features, quality, safety, performance and cost;
• perceptions about the limited range over which electric vehicles may be driven on a single battery charge, and access to charging facilities;
• competition, including from other types of alternative fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and high fuel-economy internal combustion engine vehicles;
• volatility in the cost of oil, gasoline and energy;
• government regulations and economic incentives and conditions; and
• concerns about our future viability.

The target demographics for our vehicles are highly competitive. Sales of vehicles in the automotive industry tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to further volatility. We also cannot predict the duration or direction of current global trends or their sustained impact on consumer demand. Ultimately, we continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions to remain flexible and to optimize and evolve our business as appropriate, and attempt to accurately project demand and infrastructure requirements globally and deploy our production, workforce and other resources accordingly. Rising interest rates may lead to consumers to increasingly pull back spending, including on our products, which may harm our demand, business and operating results. If we experience unfavorable global market conditions, or if we cannot or do not maintain operations at a scope that is commensurate with such conditions or are later required to or choose to suspend such operations again, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Upon launching our Robotaxi service in June 2025, we also entered into the autonomous ride-hailing service market, and have plans to mass produce Cybercab, a purpose-built Robotaxi product. As we seek to expand the scope and geographical footprint of this business, our success will be dependent upon various factors, including the acceptance and adoption by consumers of autonomous driving solutions, and Robotaxi as a preferable option, amid growing competition. If the uptake rate for autonomous driving solutions does not develop as we expect, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

We face strong competition for our products and services from a growing list of established and new competitors.

The worldwide automotive market is highly competitive today and we expect it will become even more so in the future. A significant and growing number of established and new automobile manufacturers, as well as other companies, have entered, or are reported to have plans to enter, the market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, as well as the market for self-driving technology and services and other vehicle applications and software platforms. In addition, certain government and economic incentives which provide benefits to manufacturers who assemble domestically or have local suppliers, may provide a greater benefit to our competitors, which could negatively impact our profitability. Many of our competitors have significantly more or better-established resources than we do to devote to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their products and services, and may achieve additional cost efficiencies owing to location and economic environments. Increased competition could result in our lower vehicle unit sales, price reductions, revenue shortfalls, loss of customers and loss of market share, which may harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

We also face competition in our energy generation and storage business from other manufacturers, developers, installers and service providers of competing energy technologies, as well as from large utilities. In addition, decreases in the retail or wholesale prices of electricity from utilities or other renewable energy sources could make our products less attractive to customers and lead to an increased rate of customer defaults.

Growth of our business is also dependent upon our ability to develop and commercialize Bots, including Optimus, which is in a nascent industry that has yet to develop commercially.

We currently are developing Bots, including Optimus, and intend for these products, as well as accompanying services, to be an important part of our business going forward. While this development requires significant cash investments and management resources, there is no guarantee this business will be successful. We have yet to commercialize Bots and cannot predict how demand for Bots will develop, either from commercial or consumer applications. We also face significant competition from other companies that are designing, developing and building robotics applications. Our success will depend on various factors, including our ability to successfully apply our artificial neural network training experience to autonomous robots, to either source or custom develop the necessary technology and components, and the product’s cost-effectiveness, utility and competitive positioning relative to market alternatives. If our Bots program fails to develop as we expect, or progresses more slowly than expected, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Risks Related to Our Operations

We may experience issues with lithium-ion cells or other components manufactured at our Gigafactories, which may harm the production and profitability of our vehicle and energy storage products.

Our plan to grow the volume and profitability of our vehicles and energy storage products depends on significant lithium-ion battery cell production. We also produce several vehicle components at our Gigafactories, such as battery modules and packs and drive units, and manufacture energy storage products. If we are unable to or otherwise do not maintain and grow our respective operations, or if we are unable to do so cost-effectively or hire and retain highly-skilled personnel there, our ability to manufacture our products profitably would be limited, which may harm our business and operating results.

Finally, the high volumes of lithium-ion cells and battery modules and packs manufactured by us and by our suppliers are stored and recycled at our various facilities. Any mishandling of these products may cause disruption to the operation of such facilities. While we have implemented safety procedures related to the handling of the cells, there can be no assurance that a safety issue or fire related to the cells would not disrupt our operations. Any such disruptions or issues may harm our brand and business.

We face risks associated with maintaining and expanding our international operations, including unfavorable and uncertain regulatory, political, economic, tax and labor conditions.

We are subject to legal and regulatory requirements, political uncertainty and social, environmental and economic conditions in numerous jurisdictions, including markets in which we generate significant sales. We have little control over these matters which are inherently unpredictable. Our operations in such jurisdictions, particularly as a company based in the U.S., with additional manufacturing operations in China and Europe, create risks relating to conforming our products to regulatory and safety requirements and charging and other electric infrastructures; organizing local operating entities; establishing, staffing and managing foreign business locations; attracting local customers; navigating U.S. and foreign government taxes, regulations and permit requirements; enforceability of our contractual rights; trade restrictions, customs regulations, tariffs and price or exchange controls; and preferences in foreign nations for domestically manufactured products. For example, we monitor tax legislation changes on a global basis, including changes arising as a result of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s multi-jurisdictional plan of action to address base erosion and profit shifting. Further, the United States has recently announced changes to U.S. trade policy, including increasing tariffs on imports, in many cases significantly, and potentially renegotiating or terminating existing trade agreements. The exact scope of any such tariffs that will ultimately be implemented is not known at this time, and the impacts on our business and costs of our products is uncertain. Retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. exports, further increases in U.S. tariffs, and the uncertainties surrounding domestic and foreign tariffs have impacted the pricing for our products, which could adversely impact demand. We cannot predict whether, and to what extent, there may be changes to international trade agreements, such as those with China, or whether, or to what extent, quotas, duties, additional tariffs, export controls or other restrictions will be changed or imposed by the United States or by other countries. Historically, U.S. special tariff actions have increased our costs for vehicles manufactured in the United States and increased costs for those same vehicles when exported from the United States. Further, as it pertains to electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries for our energy storage products, while the Company has continuously aimed for a strong domestic supply chain, certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the United States. A change on any of these conditions may increase our costs, impact our ability to sell our products and require significant management attention, and may harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results if we are unable to manage them effectively.

Our business may suffer if our products or features contain defects, fail to perform as expected or take longer than expected to become fully functional.

If our products contain design or manufacturing defects, whether relating to our software or hardware, that cause them not to perform as designed or intended or that require repair, or certain features of our vehicles such as new driver assistance features take longer than expected to become enabled, are legally restricted or become subject to onerous regulation, our ability to develop, market and sell our products and services may be harmed, and we may experience delivery delays, product recalls, allegations of product liability, breach of warranty and related consumer protection claims and significant warranty and other expenses. While we are continuously working to develop and improve our products’ capability and performance, there is no guarantee that any incremental changes in the specific software or equipment we deploy in our vehicles over time will not result in initial functional disparities from prior iterations or will perform as forecast in the timeframe we anticipate, or at all. Although we attempt to remedy any issues we observe in our products as effectively and rapidly as possible, such efforts may not be timely, may hamper production or may not completely satisfy our customers. We have performed, and continue to perform, extensive internal testing on our products and features, though, like the rest of the industry, we currently have a limited frame of reference by which to evaluate certain aspects of their long-term quality, reliability, durability and performance characteristics, including exposure to or consequence of external attacks. While we attempt to identify and address or remedy defects we identify pre-production and sale, over time-in-use, defects we were unable to detect or control for may manifest that could not have reasonably been addressed prior to original sale or installations.

We may be required to defend or insure against product liability claims.

The automobile industry generally experiences significant product liability claims, and as such we face the risk of such claims in the event our vehicles do not perform or are claimed to not perform as expected. As is true for other automakers, our vehicles have been involved and we expect in the future will be involved in collisions resulting in death or personal injury. Such collisions, whether involving Robotaxi vehicles or customer vehicles with driver assistance features engaged, are often subject of significant public attention, especially in light of NHTSA’s Standing General Order requiring reports regarding certain crashes involving vehicles with advanced driver assistance or autonomous driving systems. We have experienced, and we expect to continue to face, claims and regulatory scrutiny arising from or related to misuse or claimed failures or alleged misrepresentations of the technologies that we are pioneering. An unfavorable outcome in some or all of these proceedings could have a material adverse impact on results of operations or cash flows for a particular period. Our view of these matters is subject to inherent uncertainties and may change in the future. In addition, the battery packs that we produce make use of lithium-ion cells. On rare occasions, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion cells. While we have designed our battery packs to passively contain any single cell’s release of energy without spreading to neighboring cells, there can be no assurance that a field or testing failure of our vehicles or other battery packs that we produce will not occur, in particular due to a high-speed crash. Likewise, as our energy generation and storage products generate and store electricity, they have the potential to fail or cause injury to people or property. Any product liability claim may subject us to lawsuits and substantial monetary damages, product recalls or redesign efforts, and even a meritless claim may require us to defend it, all of which may generate negative publicity and be expensive and time-consuming. In most jurisdictions, we generally self-insure against the risk of product liability claims for vehicle exposure, meaning that any product liability claims will likely have to be paid from company funds and not by insurance.

We will need to maintain public credibility and confidence in our long-term business prospects in order to succeed.

In order to maintain and grow our business, we must maintain credibility and confidence among customers, suppliers, analysts, investors, ratings agencies and other parties in our long-term financial viability and business prospects. Maintaining such confidence may be challenging due to our limited operating history relative to established competitors; customer unfamiliarity with our products and services; any delays we may experience in scaling manufacturing, delivery and service operations to meet demand; competition and uncertainty regarding the future of electric vehicles, autonomous solutions or our other products and services; our quarterly production and sales performance compared with market expectations; and other factors including those over which we have no control. In particular, Tesla’s products, business, results of operations, and statements and actions of Tesla and its management are subject to significant amounts of commentary by a range of third parties. Such attention can include criticism, which may be exaggerated or unfounded, such as speculation regarding the sufficiency or stability of our management team, and has incited protests, some escalating to violence targeting our operations, products and personnel. Any such negative perceptions, whether caused by us or not, may harm our brand and our business (including sales) and make it more difficult to raise additional funds if needed.

We may be unable to effectively grow, or manage the compliance, residual value, financing and credit risks related to, our various financing programs.

We offer financing arrangements for our vehicles in North America, Europe and Asia primarily ourselves and through various financial institutions. We also currently offer vehicle financing arrangements directly through our local subsidiaries in certain markets. Depending on the country, such arrangements are available for specified models and may include operating leases directly with us under which we typically receive only a very small portion of the total vehicle purchase price at the time of lease, followed by a stream of payments over the term of the lease. We have also offered various arrangements for customers of our energy generation and storage systems whereby they pay us a fixed payment to lease or finance the purchase of such systems or purchase electricity generated by them. If we do not successfully monitor and comply with applicable national, state and/or local financial regulations and consumer protection laws governing these transactions, we may become subject to enforcement actions or penalties.

The profitability of any directly-leased vehicles returned to us at the end of their leases depends on our ability to accurately project our vehicles’ residual values at the outset of the leases, and such values may fluctuate prior to the end of their terms depending on various factors such as supply and demand of our used vehicles, economic cycles, legislative changes and the pricing of new vehicles. We have made in the past and may make in the future certain adjustments to our prices from time to time in the ordinary course of business, which may impact the residual values of our vehicles and reduce the profitability of our vehicle leasing program. The funding and growth of this program also rely on our ability to secure adequate financing and/or business partners. If we are unable to adequately fund our leasing program through internal funds, partners or other financing sources, and compelling alternative financing programs are not available for our customers who may expect or need such options, we may be unable to grow our vehicle deliveries. Furthermore, if our vehicle leasing business grows substantially, our business may suffer if we cannot effectively manage the resulting greater levels of residual risk.

Similarly, we have provided residual value guarantees to vehicle customers and partners for certain financing programs, under which such counterparties may sell their vehicles through various remarketing channels, including back to Tesla. However, actual resale values are subject to fluctuations over the term of the financing arrangements, such as from one or more of the factors discussed above. If the actual resale values of any vehicles resold by our vehicle customers and partners are lower than the residual values we have agreed to with them, the residual value guarantees may be triggered and, as a result, our financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Finally, our financing and sales programs also expose us to customer credit risk. In the event of a widespread economic downturn or other catastrophic event, our customers may be unable or unwilling to satisfy their payment obligations to us on a timely basis or at all. If a significant number of our customers default, we may incur substantial credit losses and/or impairment charges with respect to the underlying assets.

If we are unable to attract, hire and retain key employees and qualified personnel, our ability to compete may be harmed.

The loss of the services of any of our key employees or any significant portion of our workforce could disrupt our operations or delay the development, introduction and ramp of our products and services. In particular, we are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla and our Chief Executive Officer. None of our key employees is bound by an employment agreement for any specific term and we may not be able to successfully attract and retain senior leadership necessary to grow our business. Our future success also depends upon our ability to attract, hire and retain a large number of engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales and delivery, service, installation, technology and support personnel, especially to support our planned high-volume product sales, market and geographical expansion and technological innovations. If we are not successful in managing these risks, our business, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Employees may leave Tesla or choose other employers over Tesla due to various factors, such as a very competitive labor market for talented individuals with automotive or technology, including AI, experience, or any negative publicity related to us. In regions where we have or will have operations, particularly significant engineering and manufacturing centers, there is strong competition for individuals with skillsets needed for our business, including specialized knowledge of electric vehicles, engineering and electrical and building construction expertise. We also compete with both mature and prosperous companies that have far greater financial resources than we do and start-ups and emerging companies that promise short-term growth opportunities.

Finally, our compensation philosophy for all of our personnel reflects our startup origins, with an emphasis on equity-based awards and benefits in order to closely align their incentives with the long-term interests of our shareholders. We periodically seek and obtain approval from our shareholders for future increases to the number of awards available under our equity incentive and employee stock purchase plans. If we are unable to obtain the requisite shareholder approvals for such future increases, we may have to expend additional cash to compensate our employees and our ability to retain and hire qualified personnel may be harmed.

We are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla and our Chief Executive Officer.

We are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla and our Chief Executive Officer. Although Mr. Musk spends significant time with Tesla and is highly active in our management, he does not devote his full time and attention to Tesla. For example: Mr. Musk also currently holds management positions at Space Exploration Technologies Corp., X.AI Holdings Corp. (“xAI”), Neuralink Corp. and The Boring Company, and is involved in other ventures.

Our information technology systems or data, or those of our service providers or customers or users could be subject to cyber-attacks or other security incidents, which could result in data breaches, intellectual property theft, claims, litigation, regulatory investigations, significant liability, reputational damage and other adverse consequences.

We continue to expand our information technology systems as our operations grow, such as product data management, procurement, inventory management, production planning and execution, sales, service and logistics, dealer management, financial, tax and regulatory compliance systems. This includes the implementation of new internally developed systems and the deployment of such systems in the U.S. and abroad. While we maintain information technology measures designed to protect us against intellectual property theft, data breaches, sabotage and other external or internal cyber-attacks or misappropriation, our systems and those of our service providers are potentially vulnerable to malware, ransomware, viruses, denial-of-service attacks, phishing attacks, social engineering, computer hacking, unauthorized access, exploitation of bugs, defects and vulnerabilities, breakdowns, damage, interruptions, system malfunctions, power outages, terrorism, acts of vandalism, security breaches, security incidents, inadvertent or intentional actions by employees or other third parties, and other cyber-attacks.

To the extent any security incident results in unauthorized access or damage to or acquisition, use, corruption, loss, destruction, alteration or dissemination of our data, including intellectual property and personal information, or our products, vehicles or service offerings, or for it to be believed or reported that any of these occurred, it could disrupt our business, harm our reputation, compel us to comply with applicable data breach notification laws, subject us to time consuming, distracting and expensive litigation, regulatory investigation and oversight, mandatory corrective action, require us to verify the correctness of database contents, or otherwise subject us to liability under laws, regulations and contractual obligations, including those that protect the privacy and security of personal information. This could result in increased costs to us and result in significant legal and financial exposure and/or reputational harm.

We also rely on service providers, and similar incidents relating to their information technology systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. There have been and may continue to be significant supply chain attacks. Our service providers, including our workforce management software provider, have been subject to ransomware and other security incidents, and we cannot guarantee that our or our service providers’ systems have not been breached or that they do not contain exploitable defects, bugs, or vulnerabilities that could result in a security incident, or other disruption to, our or our service providers’ systems. Our ability to monitor our service providers’ security measures is limited, and, in any event, malicious third parties may be able to circumvent those security measures.

Further, the implementation, maintenance, segregation and improvement of these systems require significant management time, support and cost, and there are inherent risks associated with developing, improving and expanding our core systems as well as implementing new systems and updating current systems, including disruptions to the related areas of business operation. These risks may affect our ability to manage our data and inventory, procure parts or supplies or manufacture, sell, deliver and service products, adequately protect our intellectual property or achieve and maintain compliance with, or realize available benefits under, tax laws and other applicable regulations.

Moreover, if we do not successfully implement, maintain or expand these systems as planned, our operations may be disrupted, our ability to accurately and/or timely report our financial results could be impaired and deficiencies may arise in our internal control over financial reporting, which may impact our ability to certify our financial results. Moreover, our proprietary information, including intellectual property and personal information, could be compromised or misappropriated and our reputation may be adversely affected. If these systems or their functionality do not operate as we expect them to, we may be required to expend significant resources to make corrections or find alternative sources for performing these functions.

Any unauthorized control or manipulation of our products’ systems could result in loss of confidence in us and our products.

Our products contain complex information technology systems. For example, our vehicles and energy storage products are designed with built-in data connectivity to accept and install periodic remote updates from us to improve or update their functionality. While we have implemented security measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology networks, our products and their systems, malicious entities have reportedly attempted, and may attempt in the future, to gain unauthorized access to modify, alter and use such networks, products and systems to gain control of, or to change, our products’ functionality, user interface and performance characteristics or to gain access to data stored in or generated by our products. We encourage reporting of potential vulnerabilities in the security of our products through our security vulnerability reporting policy, and we aim to remedy any reported and verified vulnerability. However, there can be no assurance that any vulnerabilities will not be exploited before they can be identified, or that our remediation efforts are or will be successful.

Any unauthorized access to or control of our products or their systems or any loss of data could result in legal claims or government investigations. In addition, regardless of their veracity, reports of unauthorized access to our products, their systems or data, as well as other factors that may result in the perception that our products, their systems or data are capable of being hacked, may harm our brand, prospects and operating results. We have been the subject of such reports in the past.

Our business may be adversely affected by any disruptions caused by union activities.

It is not uncommon for employees of certain trades at companies such as ours to belong to a union, which can result in higher employee costs and increased risk of work stoppages. Moreover, regulations in some jurisdictions outside of the U.S. mandate employee participation in industrial collective bargaining agreements and work councils with certain consultation rights with respect to the relevant companies’ operations. Although we work diligently to provide the best possible work environment for our employees, they may still decide to join or seek recognition to form a labor union, or we may be required to become a union signatory. From time to time, labor unions have engaged in campaigns to organize certain parts of our operations, as part of which such unions have filed unfair labor practice charges against us with the National Labor Relations Board, and they may do so in the future. Any unfavorable ultimate outcome for Tesla may have a negative impact on the perception of Tesla’s treatment of our employees. Furthermore, we are directly or indirectly dependent upon companies with unionized work forces, such as suppliers and trucking and freight companies. Any work stoppages or strikes organized by such unions could delay the manufacture and sale of our products and may harm our business and operating results.

We may choose to or be compelled to undertake product recalls or take other similar actions.

As a manufacturing company, we must manage the risk of product recalls with respect to our products. Recalls for our vehicles have resulted from various hardware and software-related safety or non-compliance investigations. In addition to recalls initiated by us for various causes, testing of or investigations into our products by government regulators or industry groups may compel us to initiate product recalls or may result in negative public perceptions about the safety of our products, even if we disagree with the defect determination or have data that contradicts it. In the future, we may voluntarily or involuntarily initiate recalls or field actions if any of our products are determined by us or a regulator to contain a safety defect or be noncompliant with applicable laws and regulations, such as U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, or provide certain functionalities. Such recalls or field actions, whether voluntary or involuntary or caused by systems or components engineered or manufactured by us or our suppliers, could result in significant expense, supply chain complications and service burdens, and may harm our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our current and future warranty reserves may be insufficient to cover future warranty claims.

We provide a manufacturer’s warranty on all new and used Tesla vehicles we sell directly to customers. We also provide certain warranties with respect to the energy generation and storage systems we sell, including on their installation and maintenance. For components not manufactured by us, we generally pass through to our customers the applicable manufacturers’ warranties, but may retain some warranty responsibilities for some or all of the life of such components. As part of our energy generation and storage system contracts, we may provide the customer with availability or performance guarantees that guarantee that the underlying system will meet or exceed certain availability or minimum energy generation or other energy performance requirements specified in the contract. Under these guarantees, we may bear the risk of electricity production or other performance shortfalls, including in some cases shortfalls caused by failures in components from third party manufacturers. These risks are exacerbated in the event such manufacturers cease operations or fail to honor their warranties.

If our warranty reserves are inadequate to cover future warranty claims on our products, our financial condition and operating results may be harmed. Warranty reserves include our management’s best estimates of the projected costs to repair or to replace items under warranty, which are based on actual claims incurred to date and an estimate of the nature, frequency and costs of future claims. Such estimates are inherently uncertain and changes to our historical or projected experience, especially with respect to products that we have introduced relatively recently and/or that we expect to produce at significantly greater volumes than our past products, may cause material changes to our warranty reserves in the future.

Our insurance coverage strategy may not be adequate to protect us from all business risks.

We may be subject, in the ordinary course of business, to losses resulting from products liability, accidents, acts of God and other claims against us, for which we may have no insurance coverage. As a general matter, we do not maintain as much insurance coverage as many other companies do, and in some cases, we do not maintain any at all. Additionally, the policies that we do have may include significant deductibles or self-insured retentions, policy limitations and exclusions, and we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover all future losses or claims against us. A loss that is uninsured or which exceeds policy limits may require us to pay substantial amounts, which may harm our financial condition and operating results.

Our debt agreements contain covenant restrictions that may limit our ability to operate our business.

The terms of certain of our debt facilities contain, and any of our other future debt agreements may contain, covenant restrictions that may limit our ability to operate our business, including restrictions on our and/or our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things, incur additional debt or create liens. In addition, under certain circumstances we are required to maintain a certain amount of liquidity. As a result of these covenants, our ability to respond to changes in business and economic conditions and engage in beneficial transactions, including to obtain additional financing as needed, may be restricted. Furthermore, our failure to comply with our debt covenants could result in a default under our debt agreements, which could permit the holders to accelerate our obligation to repay the debt. If any of our debt is accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds available to repay it.

Additional funds may not be available to us when we need or want them.

Our business and our future plans for expansion, supporting infrastructure for our businesses, and AI innovations, including growth in our fleet of AI-enabled company-operated assets and new businesses, such as our development and production of Bots, are capital-intensive, and the specific timing of cash inflows and outflows may fluctuate substantially from period to period. We may need or want to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities or through obtaining credit from financial institutions to fund, together with our principal sources of liquidity, the costs of developing and manufacturing our current or future products, to pay any significant unplanned or accelerated expenses or for new significant strategic investments, or to refinance our significant consolidated indebtedness, even if not required to do so by the terms of such indebtedness. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

We may be negatively impacted by any early obsolescence of our manufacturing and other equipment.

We depreciate the cost of our manufacturing and other equipment over their expected useful lives. However, product cycles or technology may change periodically, and we may decide to update our products or processes more quickly than expected. Moreover, improvements in engineering and manufacturing expertise and efficiency may result in our ability to manufacture our products using less of our currently installed equipment. Alternatively, as we ramp and mature the production of our products and services to higher levels, we may discontinue the use of already installed equipment in favor of different or additional equipment. The useful life of any equipment that would be retired early as a result would be shortened, causing such depreciation to be accelerated, and our results of operations may be harmed.

There is no guarantee that we will have sufficient cash flow from our business to pay our indebtedness or that we will not incur additional indebtedness.

As of December 31, 2025, we and our subsidiaries had outstanding $8.18 billion in aggregate principal amount of indebtedness (see Note 9, Debt, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K). Our consolidated indebtedness may increase our vulnerability to any generally adverse economic and industry conditions. We and our subsidiaries may, subject to the limitations in the terms of our existing and future indebtedness, incur additional debt, secure existing or future debt or recapitalize our debt.

Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal and interest on our indebtedness when due, or to refinance our indebtedness as we may need or desire, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to satisfy our obligations under our existing indebtedness and any future indebtedness we may incur, and to make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as reducing or delaying investments or capital expenditures, selling assets, refinancing or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance existing or future indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. In addition, our ability to make payments may be limited by law, by regulatory authority or by agreements governing our future indebtedness. We may not be able to engage in these activities on desirable terms or at all, which may result in a default on our existing or future indebtedness and harm our financial condition and operating results.

We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

We transact business globally in multiple currencies and have foreign currency risks related to our revenue, costs of revenue, operating expenses and localized subsidiary debt denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. To the extent we have significant revenues denominated in such foreign currencies, any strengthening of the U.S. dollar would tend to reduce our revenues as measured in U.S. dollars, as we have historically experienced. We have also experienced, and will continue to experience, fluctuations in our net income as a result of gains (losses) on the settlement and the re-measurement of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies that are not the local currency (primarily consisting of our intercompany and cash and cash equivalents balances). In addition, a portion of our costs and expenses have been, and we anticipate will continue to be, denominated in foreign currencies. If we do not have fully offsetting revenues in these currencies and if the value of the U.S. dollar depreciates significantly against these currencies, our costs as measured in U.S. dollars as a percent of our revenues will correspondingly increase and our margins will suffer. As a result, our operating results may be harmed.

We may not be able to adequately protect or defend ourselves against intellectual property infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and expensive, or affect the freedom to operate our business.

Our competitors or other third parties may hold or obtain patents, copyrights, trademarks or other proprietary rights that could prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use, develop, sell or market our products and services, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, the holders of such intellectual property rights may assert their rights and urge us to take licenses and/or may bring suits alleging infringement or misappropriation of such rights, which could result in substantial costs, negative publicity and management attention, regardless of merit.

In addition, the effective protection for our brands, technologies, and proprietary information may be limited or unavailable in certain countries, making it difficult to protect our intellectual property from misappropriation or infringement. Although we make reasonable efforts to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information, we cannot guarantee that these actions will deter or prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. The theft or unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and confidential information could affect our competitive position.

While we endeavor to obtain and protect the intellectual property rights that we expect will allow us to retain or advance our strategic initiatives in these circumstances, there can be no assurance that we will be able to adequately identify and protect the portions of intellectual property that are strategic to our business, or mitigate the risk of potential suits or other legal demands by third parties. Accordingly, we may consider the entering into licensing agreements with respect to such rights, although no assurance can be given that such licenses can be obtained on acceptable terms or that litigation will not occur, and such licenses and associated litigation could significantly increase our operating expenses. Further, if we are determined to have or believe there is a high likelihood that we have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to cease making, selling or incorporating certain components or intellectual property into the goods and services we offer, to pay substantial damages and/or license royalties, to redesign our products and services and/or to establish and maintain alternative branding for our products and services. In the event that we are required to take one or more such actions, our brand, business, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Our operations could be adversely affected by events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, wars or health epidemics.

We may be impacted by natural disasters, wars and other geopolitical conflicts, health epidemics, weather conditions, the long-term effects of climate change, power outages or other events outside of our control. For example, our Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Nevada are located in seismically active regions in Northern California and Nevada, and our Gigafactory Shanghai is located in a flood-prone area. Moreover, the area in which our Gigafactory Texas is located experienced severe winter storms in the first quarter of 2021 that had a widespread impact on utilities and transportation. If major disasters such as earthquakes, floods or other climate-related events occur, geopolitical conflicts impact our ability to access certain facilities or supply chain, or our information system or communication breaks down or operates improperly, our headquarters and production facilities may be seriously damaged, or we may have to stop or delay production and shipment of our products. We may incur expenses or delays relating to such events outside of our control, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Risks Related to Government Laws and Regulations

Demand for our products and services may be impacted by the status of government and economic incentives supporting the development and adoption of such products.

Government and economic incentives that support the development and adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S. and abroad, including certain tax exemptions, tax credits and rebates, may be reduced, eliminated, amended or exhausted from time to time. For example, previously available incentives favoring electric vehicles in certain areas have expired or were cancelled or temporarily unavailable, and in some cases were not eventually replaced or reinstituted, which may have negatively impacted sales. Specifically, recent governmental and regulatory actions have repealed and/or restricted consumer, manufacturing and charging infrastructure tax credits, and certain regulatory credit programs tied to our products. These, and any similar actions in the future, may affect demand for our vehicles, and harm our growth, prospects and operating results, and the loss of previously available tax credits and carbon offset mechanisms may further negatively impact our financial results. In addition, certain government and economic incentives may also be implemented or amended to provide benefits to manufacturers who assemble domestically, have local suppliers or have other characteristics that may not apply to Tesla. Such developments could negatively impact demand for our vehicles, and we and our customers may have to adjust to them, including through pricing modifications.

In addition, certain governmental rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives that are currently available with respect to our solar and energy storage product businesses allow us to lower our costs and encourage customers to buy our products and investors to invest in our solar financing funds. However, these incentives may expire when the allocated funding is exhausted, reduced or terminated as renewable energy adoption rates increase, sometimes without warning. For example, provisions of the OBBBA could affect battery cell expenses and impact costs for our consumers, negatively impacting demand. Compliance with evolving legislation, such as the OBBBA, also requires rigorous traceability of raw materials. If we or our suppliers are unable to provide sufficient documentation to verify the origin of critical minerals, our products may lose eligibility for tax credits and incentives, directly increasing the effective price for our customers and potentially reducing demand. In addition, in jurisdictions where net metering is currently available, our customers receive bill credits from utilities for energy that their energy generation systems generate and export to the grid in excess of the electric load they use. The benefit available under net metering has been or has been proposed to be reduced, altered or eliminated in several jurisdictions, and has also been contested and may continue to be contested before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Any reductions or terminations of such incentives may harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results by making our products less competitive for customers, increasing our cost of capital and adversely impacting our ability to attract investment partners and to form new financing funds for our solar and energy storage assets.

We are subject to evolving laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs, legal prohibitions or unfavorable changes upon our operations or products.

Our business operations are and will continue to be subject to complex environmental, occupational, health and safety laws and regulations at numerous jurisdictional levels in the U.S., China, Germany and other locations abroad, including laws relating to the use, handling, storage, recycling, disposal and/or human exposure to hazardous materials, product material inputs and post-consumer products and with respect to constructing, expanding and maintaining our facilities and other infrastructure. New, or changes in, environmental and climate change laws, regulations or rules could also lead to increased costs of compliance, including remediations of any discovered issues, and changes to our operations, which may be significant, and any failures to comply could result in significant expenses, delays or fines. In addition, as we have increased our operations, we are and may continue to be subject to increased scrutiny, including litigation and government investigations, that we will need to defend against. If we are unable to successfully defend ourselves in such litigation or government investigations, it may harm our brand, ability to attract and retain qualified employees, business and financial condition. We are also subject to laws and regulations applicable to the supply, manufacture, import, sale, service and performance of our products both domestically and abroad. For example, in countries outside of the U.S., we are required to meet standards relating to vehicle safety, fuel economy and emissions that are often materially different from equivalent requirements in the U.S., thus resulting in additional investment into the vehicles and systems to aim to ensure regulatory compliance in all countries. This process may include official review and certification of our vehicles by foreign regulatory agencies prior to market entry, as well as compliance with foreign reporting and recall management systems requirements.

In particular, we offer in our customer vehicles in certain markets driver assistance features that today assist drivers with certain tedious and potentially dangerous aspects of road travel, but which currently require drivers to remain fully engaged in the driving operation. We also launched our autonomous ride-hailing service in 2025. There are a variety of international, federal and state regulations that may apply to, and may adversely inhibit, the design and capabilities, sale, marketing, registration and operation of driver assistance features, future autonomous capability on customer vehicles, as well as our Robotaxi business. This includes many existing vehicle standards that were drafted assuming the presence of a human driver. Such regulations, including their enforcement or the enforcement policy associated with the regulations, continue to rapidly change, which increases the likelihood of a patchwork of complex or conflicting regulations, or may delay, restrict or prohibit the availability of certain functionalities and vehicle designs, or affect the pace at which we expand our Robotaxi business, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Finally, as a manufacturer, installer and service provider with respect to energy generation and storage systems, a supplier of electricity generated and stored by certain of the energy generation and storage systems we install for customers, and a provider of grid services through virtual power plant models, we are impacted by federal, state and local regulations and policies concerning the import or export of components, electricity pricing, the interconnection of electricity generation and storage equipment with the electrical grid and the sale of electricity generated by third party-owned systems. If regulations and policies are introduced that adversely impact the import or export of components, or the interconnection, maintenance or use of our solar and energy storage systems, they could deter potential customers from purchasing our solar and energy storage products and services, threaten the economics of our existing contracts and cause us to cease solar and energy storage system sales and services in the relevant jurisdictions, which may harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

Any failure by us to comply with a variety of U.S. and international privacy and consumer protection laws may harm us.

Any failure by us or our vendors or other business partners to comply with our public privacy notice or with federal, state or international privacy, data protection, artificial intelligence or security laws or regulations relating to the processing, collection, use, retention, security and transfer of personally identifiable information could result in regulatory or litigation-related actions against us, legal liability, fines, damages, ongoing audit requirements and other significant costs. Substantial expenses and operational changes may be required in connection with maintaining compliance with such laws, and even an unsuccessful challenge by customers or regulatory authorities of our activities could result in adverse publicity and could require a costly response from and defense by us. In addition, certain privacy laws are still subject to a high degree of uncertainty as to their interpretation, application and impact, and may require extensive system and operational changes, be difficult to implement, increase our operating costs, adversely impact the cost or attractiveness of the products or services we offer, or result in adverse publicity and harm our reputation. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation applies to the processing of personal information collected from individuals located in the European Union requiring certain data protection measures when handling, with a significant risk of fines for noncompliance. Similarly, our North American operations are subject to complex and changing federal and U.S. state-specific data privacy laws and regulations, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act which imposes certain legal obligations on our use and processing of personal information related to California residents. Many other U.S. states have enacted their own distinct privacy laws and regulations, which often impose different, overlapping, and sometimes conflicting requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Finally, additional privacy and cybersecurity laws have come into effect in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, and other jurisdictions where Tesla has a market presence.

These laws continue to develop and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Complying with emerging and changing requirements may cause us to incur substantial costs and make enhancements to relevant data practices. Noncompliance could result in significant penalties or legal liability.

In addition to the risks related to general privacy regulation, we may also be subject to specific vehicle manufacturer obligations relating to cybersecurity, data privacy and data localization requirements which place additional risks to our international operations. Risks and penalties could include ongoing audit requirements, data protection authority investigations, legal proceedings by international governmental entities or others resulting in mandated disclosure of sensitive data or other commercially unfavorable terms. Notwithstanding our efforts to protect the security and integrity of our customers’ personal information, we may be required to expend significant resources to comply with data breach requirements if, for example, third parties improperly obtain and use the personal information of our customers or we otherwise experience a data loss with respect to the personal information we process and handle. A major breach of our network security and systems may occur despite defensive measures, and may result in fines, penalties and damages and harm our brand, prospects and operating results.

We could be subject to liability, penalties and other restrictive sanctions and adverse consequences arising out of certain governmental investigations and proceedings.

We are cooperating with certain government investigations as discussed in Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. To our knowledge, no government agency in any such ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred. However, we cannot predict the outcome or impact of any such ongoing matters, and there exists the possibility that we could be subject to liability, penalties and other restrictive sanctions and adverse consequences if the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice or any other government agency were to pursue legal action in the future. Moreover, we expect to incur costs in responding to related requests for information and subpoenas, and if instituted, in defending against any governmental proceedings.

We may face regulatory challenges to or limitations on our ability to sell vehicles directly.

While we intend to continue to leverage our most effective sales strategies, including sales through our website, we may not be able to sell our vehicles through our own stores in certain states in the U.S. with laws that may be interpreted to impose limitations on this direct-to-consumer sales model. It has also been asserted that the laws in some states limit our ability to obtain dealer licenses from state motor vehicle regulators, and such assertions persist. In certain locations, decisions by regulators permitting us to sell vehicles have been, and may be, challenged by dealer associations and others as to whether such decisions comply with applicable state motor vehicle industry laws. We have prevailed in many of these lawsuits and such results have reinforced our continuing belief that state franchise laws were not intended to apply to a manufacturer that does not have franchise dealers anywhere in the world. In some states, there have also been regulatory and legislative efforts by dealer associations to propose laws that, if enacted, would prevent us from obtaining dealer licenses in their states given our current sales model. A few states have passed legislation that clarifies our ability to operate, but at the same time limits the number of dealer licenses we can obtain or stores that we can operate. The application of state laws applicable to our operations continues to be difficult to predict.

Internationally, there may be laws in jurisdictions we have not yet entered or laws we are unaware of in jurisdictions we have entered that may restrict our sales or other business practices. Even for those jurisdictions we have analyzed, the laws in this area can be complex, difficult to interpret and may change over time. Continued regulatory limitations and other obstacles interfering with our ability to sell vehicles directly to consumers may harm our financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to the Ownership of Our Common Stock

The trading price of our common stock is likely to continue to be volatile.

The trading price of our common stock has been highly volatile and could continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Our common stock has experienced over the last 52 weeks an intra-day trading high of $498.83 per share and a low of $214.25 per share. The stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In particular, a large proportion of our common stock has been historically and may in the future be traded by short sellers which may put pressure on the supply and demand for our common stock, further influencing volatility in its market price. Public perception of our company or management and other factors outside of our control may additionally impact the stock price of companies like us that garner a disproportionate degree of public attention, regardless of actual operating performance. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market or the market price of our shares, securities class action litigation has been filed against us. While we defend such actions vigorously, any judgment against us or any future shareholder litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.

Our financial results may vary significantly from period to period due to fluctuations in our operating costs and other factors.

We expect our period-to-period financial results to vary based on our operating costs, which we anticipate will fluctuate as the pace at which we continue to design, develop and manufacture new products and increase production capacity by expanding our current manufacturing facilities and adding future facilities, may not be consistent or linear between periods. Additionally, our revenues from period to period may fluctuate as we introduce existing products to new markets for the first time and as we develop and introduce new products. As a result of these factors, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our financial results, especially in the short term, are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance. Moreover, our financial results may not meet expectations of equity research analysts, ratings agencies or investors, who may be focused only on short-term quarterly financial results. If any of this occurs, the trading price of our stock could fall substantially, either suddenly or over time.

We may fail to meet our publicly announced guidance or other expectations about our business, which could cause our stock price to decline.

We provide from time to time guidance regarding our expected financial and business performance. Correctly identifying key factors affecting business conditions and predicting future events is inherently an uncertain process, and our guidance may not ultimately be accurate and has in the past been inaccurate in certain respects, such as the timing of new product manufacturing ramps. Our guidance is based on certain assumptions such as those relating to anticipated production and sales volumes, costs and operational efficiencies. If our guidance varies from actual results, such as due to our assumptions not being met or the impact on our financial performance that could occur as a result of various risks and uncertainties, the market value of our common stock could decline significantly.

There is a risk that the technologies and initiatives associated with the 2025 CEO Performance Award, including the product goals, are misaligned with current or future consumer demand, resulting in our failure to invest in or pursue another opportunity that generates significant financial returns or leads to greater shareholder value.

If the 2025 CEO Performance Award inadvertently directs our focus and resources toward specific technologies that are misaligned with market preferences, or such preferences evolve unfavorably, or customer demand for these innovations does not materialize as anticipated, we may miss opportunities better aligned with other needs. In particular, the product goals may not be indicative of the types of products or services that would, in the long run, generate financial returns necessary to justify the significant market capitalization goals of the 2025 CEO Performance Award. The product goals were designed to incentivize Elon Musk to devote time and energy to development of these products and services, as these products and services are directionally consistent with Mr. Musk’s vision for the future of our company. Our investments in these technologies and initiatives, including those underlying the product goals, frequently involve long development timelines and substantial capital, and there is no assurance that these investments will deliver the expected business, financial or reputational benefits. As a result, misalignment of consumer demand and the technologies and initiatives associated with the 2025 CEO Performance Award, including the product goals, may impair our ability to realize returns on such investments and could lead to strategic misalignment, underperformance or write-downs of related assets, all of which could have a negative impact on our financial performance and stock price.

If Elon Musk were forced to sell shares of our common stock, either that he has the ability to pledge to secure certain personal loan obligations, or in satisfaction of other obligations, such sales could cause our stock price to decline.

Certain banking institutions have in the past made extensions of credit to Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer that were secured by pledges of our common stock. If Mr. Musk were to choose to partially secure any loans with pledges of Tesla common stock that he owns, and the price of our common stock were to decline substantially, Mr. Musk may be forced by one or more of the banking institutions to sell shares of Tesla common stock to satisfy his loan obligations if he could not do so through other means. Further, Mr. Musk from time to time may commit to investing in significant business or other ventures, and as a result, be required to sell shares of our common stock in satisfaction of such commitments. Mr. Musk may also sell a portion of his shares in order to satisfy tax obligations relating to the 2018 CEO Performance Award. Any such sales could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Anti-takeover provisions contained in our governing documents, applicable laws and certain of our debt facilities could impair a takeover attempt.

Our certificate of formation and bylaws afford certain rights and powers to our board of directors that may facilitate the delay or prevention of an acquisition that it deems undesirable. We are also subject to Section 21.606 of the Texas Business Organizations Code and other provisions of Texas law that limit the ability of shareholders in certain situations to effect certain business combinations. In addition, a change in control may cause the acceleration of certain of our debt facilities. Any of the foregoing provisions and terms that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our shareholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy

We recognize the importance of assessing, identifying, and managing material risks associated with cybersecurity threats, as such term is defined in Item 106(a) of Regulation S-K. These risks include, among other things: operational risks, intellectual property theft, fraud, extortion, harm to employees or customers and violation of data privacy or security laws.

Identifying and assessing cybersecurity risk is integrated into our overall risk management systems and processes. Cybersecurity risks related to our business, technical operations, privacy and compliance issues are identified and addressed through a multi-faceted approach including third party assessments, internal IT Audit, IT security, governance, risk and compliance reviews. To defend, detect and respond to cybersecurity incidents, we, among other things: conduct proactive privacy and cybersecurity reviews of systems and applications, audit applicable data policies, perform penetration testing using external third-party tools and techniques to test security controls, operate a bug bounty program to encourage proactive vulnerability reporting, conduct employee training, monitor emerging laws and regulations related to data protection and information security (including our consumer products) and implement appropriate changes.

We have implemented incident response and breach management processes which have four overarching and interconnected stages: 1) preparation for a cybersecurity incident, 2) detection and analysis of a security incident, 3) containment, eradication and recovery, and 4) post-incident analysis. Such incident responses are overseen by leaders from our Information Security, Product Security, Compliance and Legal teams regarding matters of cybersecurity.

Security events and data incidents are evaluated, ranked by severity and prioritized for response and remediation. Incidents are evaluated to determine materiality as well as operational and business impact, and reviewed for privacy impact.

We also conduct tabletop exercises to simulate responses to cybersecurity incidents. Our team of cybersecurity professionals then collaborate with technical and business stakeholders across our business units to further analyze the risk to the company, and form detection, mitigation and remediation strategies.

As part of the above processes, we regularly engage external auditors and consultants to assess our internal cybersecurity programs and compliance with applicable practices and standards. As of 2025, our Information Security Management System has been certified to conform to the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001:2013.

Our risk management program also assesses third party risks, and we perform third-party risk management to identify and mitigate risks from third parties such as vendors, suppliers, and other business partners associated with our use of third-party service providers. Cybersecurity risks are evaluated when determining the selection and oversight of applicable third-party service providers and potential fourth-party risks when handling and/or processing our employee, business or customer data. In addition to new vendor onboarding, we perform risk management during third-party cybersecurity compromise incidents to identify and mitigate risks to us from third-party incidents.

We describe whether and how risks from identified cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition, under the heading “Our information technology systems or data, or those of our service providers or customers or users could be subject to cyber-attacks or other security incidents, which could result in data breaches, intellectual property theft, claims, litigation, regulatory investigations, significant liability, reputational damage and other adverse consequences” included as part of our risk factor disclosures at Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Cybersecurity Governance

Cybersecurity is an important part of our risk management processes and an area of focus for our Board and management. Our Audit Committee is responsible for the oversight of risks from cybersecurity threats. Members of the Audit Committee receive updates on a quarterly basis from senior management, including leaders from our Information Security, Product Security, Compliance and Legal teams regarding matters of cybersecurity. This includes existing and new cybersecurity risks, status on how management is addressing and/or mitigating those risks, cybersecurity and data privacy incidents (if any) and status on key information security initiatives. Our Board members also engage in ad hoc conversations with management on cybersecurity-related news events and discuss any updates to our cybersecurity risk management and strategy programs.

Our cybersecurity risk management and strategy processes are overseen by leaders from our Information Security, Product Security, Compliance and Legal teams. Such individuals have an average of over 16 years of prior work experience in various roles involving information technology, including security, auditing, compliance, systems and programming. These individuals are informed about, and monitor the prevention, mitigation, detection and remediation of cybersecurity incidents through their management of, and participation in, the cybersecurity risk management and strategy processes described above, including the operation of our incident response plan, and report to the Audit Committee on any appropriate items.

We are headquartered in Austin, Texas. Our principal facilities include a large number of properties in North America, Europe and Asia utilized for manufacturing and assembly, warehousing, engineering, retail and service locations, Supercharger sites and administrative and sales offices. Our facilities are used to support both of our reporting segments, and are suitable and adequate for the conduct of our business. We generally lease such facilities with the primary exception of some manufacturing facilities. The following table sets forth the location of our primary owned and leased manufacturing facilities.

* We own the building and the land use rights with an initial term of 50 years. The land use rights are treated as operating lease right-of-use assets.

For a description of our material pending legal proceedings, see Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For further discussion of our products and services, technology and competitive strengths, refer to Item 1- Business. For discussion related to changes in financial condition and the results of operations for fiscal year 2024-related items, refer to Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024, which was filed with the SEC on January 30, 2025.

Overview and 2025 Highlights

We are focused on bringing artificial intelligence into the real world, through products and services like FSD (Supervised) and Robotaxi, as well as working to develop and commercialize AI robots (including Optimus). We intend to leverage our current operations, in which we design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems that increasingly deliver AI-related and enhanced software and services to our customers, to achieve that objective.

As a result of rapidly evolving trade and fiscal policy, uncertainty in the automotive and energy markets continues, posing risks to our global supply chain and cost structure which could have a meaningfully adverse impact on demand for our products and our profitability. The current tariff regime will have a relatively larger impact on our energy generation and storage business compared to our automotive business. While we prepare for near-term challenges to our business under current policies, we are focused on long-term growth opportunities as we continue to make prudent investments.

In 2025, we produced approximately 1.66 million consumer vehicles and delivered approximately 1.64 million consumer vehicles. We are focused on profitable growth via a differentiated and efficiently managed product portfolio that leverages our existing factories and production lines, further improving and deploying our FSD (Supervised) capabilities, including future autonomous capabilities through our purpose-built Robotaxi product, Cybercab, reducing costs, increasing vehicle production, utilized capacity and delivery capabilities, improving and developing our vehicles, battery and AI compute technologies, vertically integrating and localizing our supply chain, and expanding our global infrastructure, including our service and charging infrastructure. We have continued to expand and refine our Robotaxi service after its June 2025 launch, capitalizing on our AI investments and scalable mobility infrastructure to advance a service-driven business model.

In 2025, we deployed 46.7 GWh of energy storage products. We are focused on ramping the production, increasing the market penetration of our energy storage products, developing our battery technologies and vertically integrating, localizing and expanding our supply chain.

In 2025, we recognized total revenues of $94.83 billion, representing a decrease of $2.86 billion compared to the prior year. In 2025, our net income attributable to common stockholders was $3.79 billion, representing a decrease of $3.30 billion compared to the prior year. We continue to ramp production and build and optimize our manufacturing capacity, expand our operations while focusing on further cost reductions and operational efficiencies to enable increased deliveries and deployments of our products, and invest in research and development to accelerate our AI, software and fleet-based profits for further revenue growth.

We ended 2025 with $44.06 billion in cash and cash equivalents and investments, representing an increase of $7.50 billion from the end of 2024. Our cash flows provided by operating activities were $14.75 billion in 2025 compared to $14.92 billion in 2024, representing a decrease of $176 million. Capital expenditures amounted to $8.53 billion in 2025 compared to $11.34 billion in 2024, representing a decrease of $2.82 billion. Overall growth has allowed our business to generally fund itself, and we will continue to make critical high-value investments while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

Management Opportunities, Challenges and Uncertainties and 2026 Outlook

Automotive and AI Enabled Products—Production

We are focused on growing and optimizing our manufacturing capacity, which includes capacity for manufacturing newer vehicle models and future vehicles utilizing aspects of our next generation platform, while maximizing production rate and efficiency at our Gigafactories. In 2025, we completed the refresh of our vehicle lineup with the launch of the new Model Y and additional variants for Model 3 and Model Y. The next phase of production growth will be initiated by advances in autonomy and the introduction of new products, including those built on our next generation vehicle platform, as well as our ability to efficiently manufacture our own cells that we are developing to have high-volume output, lower capital and production costs and longer range. Our goals are to improve vehicle performance, decrease production costs and increase affordability and customer awareness. We are also capitalizing on our strengths in real-world AI data to advance the development of Optimus, a general purpose, autonomous humanoid robot.

These plans are subject to uncertainties inherent in establishing and ramping manufacturing operations, which may be exacerbated by new product and manufacturing technologies we introduce, the number of concurrent international projects, any industry-wide component constraints, labor shortages and any future impact from events outside of our control. For example, changes to fiscal and trade policy with respect to tariffs, export controls and other restrictions may impact our global supply chain cost structure and availability, affecting not only vehicle production, but also facility expansions. Moreover, we have set ambitious technological targets with our plans for battery cells as well as for iterative manufacturing and design improvements for our vehicles.

Automotive and AI Enabled Products—Demand, Sales, Deliveries and Infrastructure

Our cost reduction efforts, cost innovation strategies, and additional localized procurement and manufacturing are key to our vehicles’ affordability and have allowed us to competitively price our vehicles. We will also continue to generate demand by improving our vehicles’ performance and functionality, including through product offerings and features utilizing artificial intelligence such as FSD (Supervised) and other software, and delivering new vehicles and vehicle options. In addition, we believe the launch of our Robotaxi service unlocks the potential for significant business growth to advance a service-driven business model. We will continue to improve safety and profitability while scaling the network. In addition, we have been increasing awareness, and expanding our vehicle financing programs, including attractive leasing terms for our customers. We will also continue to work on developing our robotics offerings.

However, we operate in a cyclical industry that is sensitive to shifting consumer trends, political and regulatory uncertainty, including with respect to trade and the environment, all of which can be compounded by inflationary pressures, rising energy prices, interest rate fluctuations and the liquidity of enterprise customers. For example, as inflationary pressures increased across the markets in which we operate, central banks in developed countries raised interest rates rapidly and substantially, which impacted the affordability of vehicle lease and finance arrangements. Further, sales of vehicles in the automotive industry also tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to increased volatility as we expand and adjust our operations. Moreover, as additional competitors enter the marketplace and help bring the world closer to sustainable transportation, we will have to adjust and continue to execute well to maintain our momentum. Additionally, our suppliers’ liquidity and allocation plans may be affected by current challenges in the automotive industry, which could reduce our access to components or result in unfavorable changes to cost. These macroeconomic and industry trends have had, and will likely continue to have, an impact on the pricing of, and order rate for our vehicles, and in turn our operating margin.

Changes in government and economic policies, incentives or tariffs may also impact our production, cost structure and the competitive landscape. For instance, while the final scope and application of recently announced changes in trade policy remain uncertain at this time, higher tariffs on imports and subsequent retaliatory tariffs could adversely impact consumer spending and demand for durable goods and related services. Furthermore, certain provisions of the OBBBA, including the removal of tax credits for electric vehicles, may also impact consumer demand for electric vehicles in general. We will continue to adjust accordingly to such developments, and we believe our ongoing cost reduction efforts, including through production innovation, process improvements and logistics optimization, and focus on operating leverage, vertical integration and supply chain localization will continue to benefit us in relation to our competitors. Our new products and our advances in autonomy and robotics, position us for future growth.

As our vehicle production increases, we must work constantly to similarly increase vehicle delivery capability so that it does not become a bottleneck on our total deliveries. As we expand our manufacturing operations globally, we will also have to continue to increase and staff our delivery, servicing and charging infrastructure accordingly, maintain our vehicle reliability and optimize our Supercharger locations to ensure cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction. In particular, as other automotive manufacturers have announced their adoption of NACS and agreements with us to utilize our Superchargers, we must correspondingly expand our network in order to ensure adequate availability to meet customer demands. We also remain focused on continued enhancements of the capability and efficiency of our servicing operations. In tandem with the launch of our Robotaxi business, we are focused on developing and optimizing dedicated infrastructure, including in relation to vehicle cleaning and maintenance, charging, security, teleoperations and fleet management, to ensure service quality as we continue to scale.

Energy Generation and Storage Demand, Production and Deployment

The long-term success of this business is dependent upon incremental volume growth. We continue to increase the production and capabilities of our energy storage products to meet high levels of demand, including the ramps of our Megafactories in Shanghai and Lathrop, California, and the construction of a new Megafactory near Houston, Texas. In 2025, we introduced Megapack 3 and Megablock, our next-generation industrial storage product, and began manufacturing a new residential retrofit solar panel. For Megapack, energy storage deployments can vary meaningfully quarter to quarter depending on the timing of specific project milestones and logistics. As these product lines grow, we will have to maintain adequate battery cell supply for our energy storage products. At the same time, changes in government and economic incentives or tariffs may also impact our sales, cost structure and the competitive landscape. For instance, import tariffs by the US government and the provisions of the OBBBA could significantly increase battery cell expenses and impact costs for our consumers, negatively impacting consumer demand. Despite these challenges, as AI infrastructure drives rapid load growth, we see opportunities for our energy storage products to stabilize the grid, shift energy when it is needed most and provide additional power capacity.

Cash Flow and Capital Expenditure Trends

Our capital expenditures are typically difficult to project beyond the short-term given the number and breadth of our core projects at any given time, and may further be impacted by uncertainties in future global market conditions and shifting global trade and fiscal policy. We are simultaneously developing and ramping new products, building or ramping manufacturing facilities on three continents, piloting the development and manufacture of new battery cell technologies, expanding our Supercharger network and investing in autonomy, robotics and other artificial intelligence enabled training and products and its supporting infrastructure, and the pace of our capital spend may vary depending on overall priority among projects, the pace at which we meet milestones, production adjustments to and among our various products, increased capital efficiencies and the addition of new projects. We are focused on long-term growth opportunities through critical, high-value investments. We currently expect our capital expenditures to be in excess of $20 billion in 2026, driven by our AI initiatives, including investments in compute infrastructure and data centers, the expansion and ramp of our manufacturing and R&D production lines and facilities, and growth in our fleet of company-operated AI-enabled assets and our retail, service and charging footprint. We believe this strategy will position our Company for further growth as we make investments in a capital efficient manner.

Our business has generally been consistently generating cash flow from operations in excess of our level of capital spend, and with better working capital management resulting in shorter days sales outstanding than days payable outstanding, our sales growth is also generally facilitating positive cash generation. We have and will continue to utilize such cash flows, among other things, to invest in autonomy and robotics, further vertically integrate our supply chain, expand our product roadmap and provide financing options to our customers. At the same time, periods of heightened levels of capital expenditures due to capital-intensive projects and other potential variables such as rising material prices and increases in supply chain and labor expenses resulting from changes in global trade conditions and labor availability, will necessitate additional funding beyond our operating cash flow.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”). The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience, as appropriate, and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Changes in the accounting estimates are reasonably likely to occur from period to period. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by our management. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be affected.

The estimates used for, but not limited to, determining significant economic incentive for resale value guarantee arrangements, sales return reserves, resale value guarantee liabilities, income tax, the collectability of accounts and finance receivables, fair value and probability assessments of stock-based awards, inventory valuation, warranties, fair value of long-lived assets, fair value of financial instruments, fair value and residual value of operating lease vehicles and energy generation and storage systems subject to leases could be impacted. We have assessed the impact and are not aware of any specific events or circumstances that required an update to our estimates and assumptions or materially affected the carrying value of our assets or liabilities as of the date of issuance of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These estimates may change as new events occur and additional information is obtained. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Revenue Recognition

Automotive Sales

Automotive sales revenue includes revenues related to cash and financing deliveries of new vehicles, and specific other features and services that meet the definition of a performance obligation under Accounting Standards Codification 606, *Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“*ASC 606”), including access to our internet connectivity, access to our FSD (Supervised) features and their ongoing maintenance, free Supercharging programs and over-the-air software updates. We recognize revenue on automotive sales, net of any discounts or financial subsidies, upon delivery to the customer, which is when the control of a vehicle transfers. Payments are typically received at the point control transfers or in accordance with payment terms customary to the business, except sales we finance for which payments are collected over the contractual loan term. We also recognize a sales return reserve based on historical experience plus consideration for expected future market values when we offer resale value guarantees or similar buyback terms. Other features and services such as access to our internet connectivity, unlimited free Supercharging and over-the-air software updates are provisioned upon transfer of control of a vehicle and recognized over time on a straight-line basis as we have a stand-ready obligation to deliver such services to the customer. Other limited free Supercharging incentives are recognized based on actual usage or expiration, whichever is earlier. We recognize revenue related to these other features and services over the performance period, which is generally the expected ownership life of the vehicle. Revenue related to FSD (Supervised) features is recognized when functionality is delivered to the customer and their ongoing maintenance is recognized over time. For our obligations related to automotive sales, we estimate standalone selling price by considering costs used to develop and deliver the service, third-party pricing of similar options and other information that may be available. Customers may purchase subscriptions, including FSD (Supervised) and premium connectivity, after taking delivery of their vehicles. Revenue from subscriptions is recognized either over time or point in time depending on the nature of contractual terms.

Any fees or financial subsidies that are paid or payable by us to a customer’s lender when we arrange the financing are recognized upfront as an offset against automotive sales revenue. As our contract costs related to automotive sales are typically fulfilled within one year, the costs to obtain a contract are expensed as incurred. Amounts billed to customers related to shipping and handling are classified as automotive sales revenue, and we have elected to recognize the cost for freight and shipping when control over vehicles, parts or accessories have transferred to the customer as an expense in cost of automotive sales revenue. Our policy is to exclude taxes collected from a customer from the transaction price of automotive contracts.

We offer resale value guarantees to our commercial banking partners in connection with certain vehicle leasing programs. Under these programs, we originate the lease with our end customer and immediately transfer the lease and the underlying vehicle to our commercial banking partner, with the transaction being accounted for as a sale under ASC 606. We receive upfront payment for the vehicle, do not bear casualty and credit risks during the lease term, and we provide a guarantee capped to a limit if they are unable to sell the vehicle at or above the vehicle’s contractual or determined residual value at the end of the lease term. We estimate a guarantee liability in accordance with ASC 460, Guarantees and record it within other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. On a quarterly basis, we assess the estimated market value of vehicles sold under these programs to determine whether there have been changes to the amount of expected resale value guarantee liabilities. As we accumulate more data related to the resale values of our vehicles or as market conditions change, there may be material changes to their estimated values.

Inventory Valuation

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost for vehicles and energy products, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. We record inventory write-downs for excess or obsolete inventories based upon assumptions about current and future demand forecasts. If our inventory on-hand is in excess of our future demand forecast, the excess amounts are written-off.

We also review our inventory to determine whether its carrying value exceeds the net amount realizable upon the ultimate sale of the inventory. This requires us to determine the estimated selling price of our vehicles less the estimated cost to convert the inventory on-hand into a finished product. Once inventory is written-down, a new, lower cost basis for that inventory is established and subsequent changes in facts and circumstances do not result in the restoration or increase in that newly established cost basis.

Should our estimates of future selling prices or production costs change, additional and potentially material write-downs may be required. A small change in our estimates may result in a material charge to our reported financial results.

Warranties

We provide a manufacturer’s warranty on all new and used vehicles and a warranty on the installation and components of the energy generation and storage systems we sell for periods typically between 1 to 25 years. We accrue a warranty reserve for the products sold by us, which includes our best estimate of the projected costs to repair or replace items under warranties and recalls if identified. These estimates are based on actual claims incurred to date and an estimate of the nature, frequency and costs of future claims. These estimates are inherently uncertain and changes to our historical or projected warranty experience may cause material changes to the warranty reserve in the future. The warranty reserve does not include projected service costs associated with our vehicles subject to operating lease accounting and our energy generation and storage systems under lease contracts or PPAs, as these service costs are expensed as incurred. The portion of the warranty reserve expected to be incurred within the next 12 months is included within Accrued liabilities and other, while the remaining balance is included within Other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. For liabilities that we are entitled to receive indemnification from our suppliers, we record receivables for the contractually obligated amounts on the consolidated balance sheets as a component of Prepaid expenses and other current assets for the current portion and as Other non-current assets for the long-term portion. Warranty expense is recorded as a component of Cost of revenues in the consolidated statements of operations. Due to the magnitude of our automotive business, our accrued warranty balance is primarily related to our automotive segment.

Stock-Based Compensation

We use the fair value method of accounting for our restricted stock awards (“RSAs”), stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) granted to employees and for our employee stock purchase plan (“the ESPP”) to measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for the stock-based awards. Stock-based compensation expense for equity awards is a non-cash expense and is recorded in Cost of revenues, Research and development expense and Selling, general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations based on the function of the employee.

Equity awards with service and/or performance conditions

The fair value of stock option awards with service and/or performance conditions and the ESPP is estimated on the grant or offering date using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires inputs such as the risk-free interest rate, expected award term and expected share price volatility. The fair value of RSUs with service and/or performance conditions is measured on the grant date based on the closing fair market value of our common stock. The resulting stock-based compensation expense for stock options, RSUs and the ESPP is recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the awards, usually the vesting period, which is generally four years for stock options and RSUs and six months for the ESPP.

The fair value of restricted stock granted to our CEO with service and/or performance conditions is measured on the grant date based on the closing fair market value of our common stock, adjusted to take into account the illiquidity discount due to any applicable required holding period, less any purchase price or offset amount. The illiquidity discount is determined using a valuation model that requires inputs such as expected share price volatility and the employee’s expected tax rate. The inputs used in the valuation models, which are subjective and generally require significant judgment, are unique to each award based on the best available information at the valuation date.

Stock-based compensation expense for equity awards with performance conditions is recognized over the requisite service period when the vesting of the award becomes probable. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis for equity awards with only a service condition and on a graded vesting basis for equity awards with a performance condition, net of actual forfeitures in the period.

Equity awards with market, service and performance conditions

The fair value and derived service period of performance-based awards granted to our CEO with market, service and performance conditions are estimated on the grant date using a Monte Carlo simulation model. A Monte Carlo simulation model requires inputs such as the risk-free interest rate, expected award term, expected share dilution and expected share price volatility. For awards with a holding requirement that is in effect post-vesting, the fair value is adjusted to take into account an illiquidity discount, which is determined using a valuation model that requires inputs such as expected share price volatility and the employee’s expected tax rate. These inputs, which are subjective and generally require significant judgment, are unique to each award based on the best available information at the valuation date.

For such awards, stock-based compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the expected performance achievement period of individual performance milestones when the achievement of each individual performance milestone becomes probable. If applicable, stock-based compensation expense for such awards is recognized over the longer of (i) the expected service period, (ii) the expected achievement period for the operational milestone (performance condition) and (iii) the expected achievement period for the related market capitalization milestone determined on the grant date, with recognition beginning at the point in time that the relevant operational milestone is considered probable of achievement. If such operational milestone becomes probable any time after the grant date or the expected achievement period changes, we will recognize a cumulative expense adjustment from the grant date to that point in time. Stock-based compensation expense will continue to be recognized over the expected achievement period for the operational milestone (if applicable) regardless of whether the market capitalization milestone is achieved earlier than its expected achievement period or achieved at all, as long as the service condition continues to be satisfied. If an operational milestone is subsequently determined to be improbable of achievement, stock-based compensation expense previously recognized would be reversed in the period the condition is deemed improbable.

Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and in many foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes, our deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against our net deferred tax assets that are not more likely than not to be realized. We monitor the realizability of our deferred tax assets taking into account all relevant factors at each reporting period. In completing our assessment of realizability of our deferred tax assets, we consider our history of income (loss) measured at pre-tax income (loss) adjusted for permanent book-tax differences on a jurisdictional basis, volatility in actual earnings, excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation in recent prior years, and impacts of the timing of reversal of existing temporary differences. We also rely on our assessment of the Company’s projected future results of business operations, including uncertainty in future operating results relative to historical results, volatility in the market price of our common stock and its performance over time, variable macroeconomic conditions impacting our ability to forecast future taxable income, and changes in business that may affect the existence and magnitude of future taxable income. Our valuation allowance assessment is based on our best estimate of future results considering all available information.

Furthermore, significant judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions. In the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax settlement is uncertain. As a result, we recognize the effect of this uncertainty on our tax attributes or taxes payable based on our estimates of the eventual outcome. These effects are recognized when, despite our belief that our tax return positions are supportable, we believe that it is more likely than not that some of those positions may not be fully sustained upon review by tax authorities. We are required to file income tax returns in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions, which requires us to interpret the applicable tax laws and regulations in effect in such jurisdictions. Such returns are subject to audit by the various federal, state and foreign taxing authorities, who may disagree with respect to our tax positions. We believe that our consideration is adequate for all open audit years based on our assessment of many factors, including past experience and interpretations of tax law. We review and update our estimates in light of changing facts and circumstances, such as the closing of a tax audit, the lapse of a statute of limitations or a change in estimate. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters differs from our expectations, such differences may impact income tax expense in the period in which such determination is made.

Results of Operations

Revenues

(Dollars in millions)

Automotive & Services and Other Segment

Automotive sales revenue includes revenues related to cash and financing deliveries of new vehicles, including internet connectivity, access to our FSD (Supervised) features and their ongoing maintenance, free Supercharging programs and over-the-air software updates. These deliveries are vehicles that are not subject to lease accounting.

Automotive regulatory credits includes sales of regulatory credits to other automotive manufacturers. Our revenue from automotive regulatory credits is directly related to our new vehicle production, sales and pricing negotiated with our customers. We monetize them proactively as new vehicles are sold based on standing arrangements with buyers of such credits, typically as close as possible to the production and delivery of the vehicle or changes in regulation impacting the credits.

Automotive leasing revenue includes the amortization of revenue for vehicles under direct operating lease agreements and lease buyout revenue. Additionally, automotive leasing revenue includes direct sales-type leasing programs where we recognize all revenue associated with the sales-type lease upon delivery to the customer.

Services and other revenue consists of sales of used vehicles, non-warranty maintenance services and collision, paid Supercharging sessions, automotive insurance business revenue, part sales and retail merchandise sales.

2025 compared to 2024

Automotive sales revenue decreased $6.66 billion, or 9%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, due a decrease of approximately 8% in cash deliveries and a lower average selling price per unit driven by sales mix and higher customer incentives such as attractive financing options.

Automotive regulatory credits revenue decreased $770 million, or 28%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Fluctuations in automotive regulatory credits are impacted by our supply of credits, subject to changes in regulation, production and sales. In 2025, governmental and regulatory actions, such as OBBBA, have restricted certain regulatory credit programs tied to our products. Furthermore, we are impacted by the demand for credits by other automobile manufacturers.

Services and other revenue increased $2.00 billion, or 19%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to increases in paid Supercharging sessions, non-warranty maintenance services and collision revenue, used vehicle sales volume and automotive insurance business revenue.

Energy Generation and Storage Segment

Energy generation and storage revenue includes sales, leasing, and financing of energy generation and storage products, services related to such products and sales of energy generation incentives.

2025 compared to 2024

Energy generation and storage revenue increased $2.69 billion, or 27%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily due to increases in Megapack and Powerwall deployments, partially offset by a decrease in average selling price of Megapack.

Cost of Revenues and Gross Margin

(Dollars in millions)

Automotive & Services and Other Segment

Cost of automotive sales revenue includes direct and indirect materials, labor costs, manufacturing overhead, including depreciation costs of tooling and machinery, shipping and logistic costs, tariffs, reserves for estimated warranty expenses, FSD (Supervised) ongoing maintenance costs, vehicle connectivity costs, and allocations of electricity and infrastructure costs related to our free Supercharging programs. Cost of automotive sales revenues also includes adjustments to warranty expense and charges to write down the carrying value of our inventory when it exceeds its estimated net realizable value and to provide for obsolete and on-hand inventory in excess of forecasted demand. Additionally, cost of automotive sales revenue benefits from manufacturing credits recognized.

Cost of automotive leasing revenue includes the depreciation of operating lease vehicles, cost of goods sold associated with lease buyouts and direct sales-type leases, and servicing of leased vehicles.

Costs of services and other revenue includes cost of used vehicles including refurbishment costs, labor and material costs associated with providing non-warranty maintenance services and collision, operating costs of paid Supercharging sessions, claim costs associated with providing automotive insurance, and costs associated with our part sales and retail merchandise sales.

2025 compared to 2024

Cost of automotive sales revenue decreased $5.60 billion, or 9%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 due to the decrease in deliveries year over year as discussed above and lower average cost per unit due to sales mix and lower material costs, partially offset by lower fixed cost absorption and an increase in tariffs compared to the prior year.

Cost of services and other revenue increased $1.68 billion, or 17%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to increases in used vehicle sales volume and cost, cost of paid Supercharging sessions, cost related to our automotive insurance business, and cost related to our non-warranty maintenance services and collision revenue.

Gross margin for total automotive decreased from 18.4% to 17.8% in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily due to a decrease in regulatory credits revenue as well as the changes in automotive sales revenue and cost of automotive sales revenue, as discussed above.

Gross margin for total automotive & services and other segment decreased from 16.9% to 16.2% in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily due to a decrease in regulatory credits revenue, partially offset by an improvement in services and other margins.

Energy Generation and Storage Segment

Cost of energy generation and storage revenue includes direct and indirect material, tariffs, labor costs, manufacturing overhead, including depreciation costs of tooling and machinery, shipping and logistic costs, warranty expense and cost of servicing. Cost of energy generation and storage revenue also includes charges to write down the carrying value of our inventory when it exceeds its estimated net realizable value and to provide for obsolete and on-hand inventory in excess of forecasted demand. Additionally, cost of energy generation and storage revenue benefits from manufacturing credits earned. In agreements for energy generation and storage systems and PPAs where we are the lessor, the cost of revenue is primarily comprised of depreciation of the cost of leased energy generation and storage systems, maintenance costs associated with those systems and amortization of any initial direct costs.

2025 compared to 2024

Cost of energy generation and storage revenue increased $1.52 billion, or 20%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily from increases in Megapack and Powerwall deployments, partially offset by a decrease in average cost per unit for Megapack and Powerwall from lower raw material costs, lower manufacturing costs for Megapack in part from the ramp of Shanghai Megafactory, partially offset by higher tariffs.

Gross margin for energy generation and storage increased from 26.2% to 29.8% in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due the changes in energy generation and storage revenue and cost of energy generation and storage revenue, as discussed above.

Research and Development Expense

(Dollars in millions)

Research and development (“R&D”) expense consists primarily of personnel costs for our teams in engineering and research, facilities costs such as data center depreciation, prototyping expense, and professional and contract services.

R&D expense increased $1.87 billion, or 41%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to increases in costs related to AI and other programs as we continue to expand our product roadmap and technologies and an increase in stock-based compensation of $500 million. R&D expense as a percentage of revenue increased from 5% to 7% in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to higher R&D expense and a decrease in total revenue as compared to the prior year.

Selling, General and Administrative Expense

(Dollars in millions)

Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expense generally consist of personnel and facilities costs related to our stores, marketing, sales, executive, finance, human resources, information technology and legal organizations, as well as fees for professional and contract services, litigation settlements, bank charges and marketing fees.

SG&A expenses increased $684 million, or 13%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 driven by a $354 million increase in operating expenses including legal charges, a $256 million increase in employee and labor costs, including professional services, a $235 million increase in stock-based compensation, partially offset by an $83 million decrease in marketing expenses and a $78 million decrease in facilities related expenses.

Restructuring and Other

(Dollars in millions)

In the second quarter of 2024, we initiated and substantially completed certain restructuring actions to reduce costs and improve efficiency. As a result, we recognized $583 million of employee termination expenses in Restructuring and other in our consolidated statement of operations.

In the third quarter of 2025, we initiated certain actions in order to reduce costs and improve efficiency through convergence of AI chip design efforts. As a result, we recognized $390 million of expenses within our automotive segment in the second half of 2025, related to charges for supercomputer assets, contract terminations and employee terminations.

Interest Income

(Dollars in millions)

Interest income increased $111 million, or 7%, in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to higher interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments due to an increase in our average portfolio balance, partially offset by a lower average interest rate.

Other Income (Expense), Net

(Dollars in millions)

Other (expense) income, net, consists of foreign exchange gains and losses related to our foreign currency-denominated monetary assets and liabilities and fair value remeasurements of our digital assets following the adoption of ASU 2023-08 effective January 1, 2024. See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Other (expense) income, net, changed unfavorably by $1.11 billion in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily due to mark-to-market on our bitcoin digital assets and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our intercompany balances. As our intercompany balances are significant in nature and we do not typically hedge foreign currency risk, we can experience significant fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rate gains and losses from period to period.

Provision for (Benefit from) Income Taxes

(Dollars in millions)

Our provision for (benefit from) income taxes decreased by $414 million in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to a reduction in income before income taxes. Our effective tax rate increased from 20% to 27% in the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to changes in the mix of our jurisdictional earnings, a decrease in foreign income deductions resulting from lower taxable income attributable to the OBBBA and the remeasurement of our deferred tax assets related to net controlled foreign corporation tested income (“NCTI”) under the OBBBA.

See Note 12, Income Taxes, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As discussed in Part II, Item 9B, Other Information—xAI Investment of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company entered into an agreement in January 2026 to make a minority equity investment.

We generally expect to continue to generate net positive operating cash flow. The cash we generate from our core operations enables us to fund ongoing operations and production, our research and development projects for new products and technologies including our proprietary battery cells, additional manufacturing ramps at existing manufacturing facilities, the construction of future factories, and the continued expansion of our retail and service locations, body shops, Mobile Service fleet, Supercharger, energy product installation capabilities and autonomy and other artificial intelligence enabled products.

In addition, because a large portion of our future expenditures will be to fund our growth, we expect that if needed we will be able to adjust our capital and operating expenditures by operating segment. For example, if our near-term manufacturing operations decrease in scale or ramp more slowly than expected, including due to global economic, tax, trade or business conditions, we may choose to correspondingly slow the pace of our capital expenditures. Finally, we continually evaluate our cash needs and may decide it is best to raise additional capital or seek alternative financing sources to fund the rapid growth of our business, including through drawdowns on existing or new debt facilities or financing funds. Conversely, we may also from time to time determine that it is in our best interests to voluntarily repay certain indebtedness early.

Accordingly, we believe that our current sources of funds will provide us with adequate liquidity during the 12-month period following December 31, 2025, as well as in the long-term.

See the sections below for more details regarding the material requirements for cash in our business and our sources of liquidity to meet such needs.

Material Cash Requirements

From time to time in the ordinary course of business, we enter into agreements with vendors for the purchase of components and raw materials to be used in the manufacture of our products. However, due to contractual terms, variability in the precise growth curves of our development and production ramps, and opportunities to renegotiate pricing, we generally do not have binding and enforceable purchase orders under such contracts beyond the short-term, and the timing and magnitude of purchase orders beyond such period is difficult to accurately project.

As discussed in and subject to the considerations referenced in Part II, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Management Opportunities, Challenges and Uncertainties and 2026 Outlook—Cash Flow and Capital Expenditure Trends in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we currently expect our capital expenditures to exceed $20 billion in 2026 driven by our AI initiatives, including investments in compute infrastructure and data centers, the expansion and ramp of our manufacturing and R&D production lines and facilities, and growth in our fleet of company-operated AI-enabled assets and our retail, service and charging footprint. Changes in trade policy may necessitate adjustments to our project timelines, potentially impacting our capital expenditure expectations.

As of December 31, 2025, we and our subsidiaries had outstanding $8.18 billion in aggregate principal amount of indebtedness, of which $1.58 billion is current. As of December 31, 2025, our total minimum lease payments was $7.96 billion, of which $1.32 billion is due in the succeeding 12 months. For details regarding our indebtedness and lease obligations, refer to Note 9, Debt, and Note 10, Leases, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Sources and Conditions of Liquidity

Our sources to fund our material cash requirements are predominantly from our deliveries and servicing of new and used vehicles, deployments and servicing of our energy storage products, interest income, and proceeds from debt facilities and equity offerings, when applicable.

As of December 31, 2025, we had $16.51 billion and $27.55 billion of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, respectively. Balances held in foreign currencies had a U.S. dollar equivalent of $4.37 billion and consisted primarily of Chinese yuan and euro. We had $6.43 billion of unused committed credit amounts as of December 31, 2025. For details regarding our indebtedness, refer to Note 9, Debt, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We continue adapting our strategy to meet our liquidity and risk objectives, such as investing in U.S. government securities and other investments, investing in autonomy, further vertically integrating our supply chain, expanding our product roadmap and providing financing options to our customers.

Summary of Cash Flows

(Dollars in millions)

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Our cash flows from operating activities are significantly affected by our cash investments to support the growth of our business in areas such as research and development and selling, general and administrative and working capital. Our operating cash inflows include cash from vehicle sales and related servicing, sales of energy generation and storage products, customer lease and financing payments, sales of regulatory credits and interest income on our cash and investments portfolio. These cash inflows are offset by our payments to suppliers for production materials and parts used in our manufacturing process, operating expenses, operating lease payments and interest payments on our financings.

Net cash provided by operating activities decreased by $176 million to $14.75 billion during the year ended December 31, 2025 from $14.92 billion during the year ended December 31, 2024. This decrease was primarily due to a decrease in net income excluding non-cash expenses, gains and losses of $737 million, partially offset by favorable changes in net operating assets and liabilities of $561 million.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash flows from investing activities and their variability across each period related primarily to capital expenditures, which were $8.53 billion and $11.34 billion for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, mainly for global AI and operational infrastructure and factory expansion, as well as machinery and equipment as we expand and enhance our product roadmap. We also purchased $6.95 billion and $7.45 billion of investments, net of proceeds from maturities and sales, for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash flows from financing activities decreased by $2.71 billion to $1.14 billion during the year ended December 31, 2025 from $3.85 billion during the year ended December 31, 2024. The decrease was primarily due to a $3.05 billion increase in repayments of debt and a $158 million decrease in proceeds from issuances of debt. See Note 9, Debt, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding our debt obligations. Additionally, the decrease was partially offset by a $277 million decrease in principal payments on finance leases, a $133 million decrease in payments for buy-outs of noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries and $101 million of proceeds received from directors in shareholder settlement net of payment for related legal fees during the year ended December 31, 2025.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Foreign Currency Risk

We transact business globally in multiple currencies and hence have foreign currency risks related to our revenue, costs of revenue and operating expenses denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar (primarily the Chinese yuan and euro in relation to our current year operations). In general, we are a net receiver of currencies other than the U.S. dollar for our foreign subsidiaries. Accordingly, changes in exchange rates affect our operating results as expressed in U.S. dollars as we do not typically hedge foreign currency risk.

We have also experienced, and will continue to experience, fluctuations in our net income as a result of gains (losses) on the settlement and the re-measurement of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies that are not the local currency (primarily consisting of our intercompany and cash and cash equivalents balances).

We considered the historical trends in foreign currency exchange rates and determined that it is reasonably possible that adverse changes in foreign currency exchange rates of 10% for all currencies could be experienced in the near-term. These changes were applied to our total monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than our local currencies at the balance sheet date to compute the impact these changes would have had on our net income before income taxes. These changes would have resulted in a gain or loss of $1.70 billion at December 31, 2025 and $1.15 billion at December 31, 2024, assuming no foreign currency hedging.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, our management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that our management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs.

Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2025, our disclosure controls and procedures were designed at a reasonable assurance level and were effective to provide reasonable assurance that the information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2025.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, has audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025, as stated in their report which is included herein.

Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls

Because of inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements and projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2025, which has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.