Cybercab, Unsupervised FSD and HW3 Top Investor Questions for Tesla’s Q3 Call

Tesla reports third-quarter 2026 results after the close on Wednesday, October 21, with its earnings call at 4:30 p.m. CT (5:30 p.m. ET). Ahead of the call, retail shareholders have been submitting and upvoting questions on Tesla’s Say Q&A page, where submissions close Tuesday, October 20, at 4:00 p.m. ET, so the ranking could still shift.

What shareholders want answered

According to TeslaNorth, the top seven questions by shares represented all came from anonymous retail investors and focus on:

1. How the Cybercab fleet scales beyond Austin, and the regulatory path outside Texas given NHTSA’s open safety review.
2. When unsupervised FSD will reach customer cars.
3. When customers will be able to buy a Cybercab.
4. The cost per Optimus unit and who the first paying customer will be.
5. Unit economics per paid robotaxi mile, compared with Tesla’s 30-cent target.
6. Whether, and when, Hardware 3 owners can get a free upgrade to support unsupervised FSD.
7. When Optimus will start generating revenue.

Some background: TeslaNorth reports that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, that NHTSA has given Tesla until October 30 to explain under oath how it certified a car with no steering wheel or pedals, and that HW3 owners are still on “FSD Lite” while Tesla hasn’t laid out an upgrade plan.

Tesla’s own scorecard

A shareholder letter Tesla’s board released on October 19 alongside its 2026 proxy says Robotaxi service has expanded to seven US cities, that FSD (Supervised) has nearly 1.5 million paid customers and more than 15 billion cumulative miles, that Tesla has delivered more than 10 million vehicles and deployed more than 130 GWh of energy storage, and that Megapack 3 production has started in Texas. WattsUpNext lists the Robotaxi markets as Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and the San Francisco Bay Area, based on Tesla’s Q2 report.

The numbers to watch

Analysts expect earnings of $0.43 a share on revenue of about $27.90 billion, according to Benzinga. Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, ahead of estimates, so automotive gross margin will be closely watched, along with whether energy storage margins recover after Q2’s 13.7 GWh of deployments. WattsUpNext reports that Morningstar expects another quarter of negative free cash flow. Elon Musk has argued that Optimus and Cybercab will make up most of Tesla’s value, so expect much of the call to focus on those programs.

Sources: TeslaNorth, Tesla letter to shareholders (PDF), Benzinga via Yahoo Finance, WattsUpNext.