Tesla's deteriorating earnings and automotive revenue undermine its growth story. In Q3 2026, automotive revenue fell 3% year over year, operating income fell 56%, and diluted EPS fell 44%, while total revenue was flat. x.com 

Tesla's stagnant car business and rising AI and robotics spending are squeezing current earnings before those bets have paid off. Q3 revenue was flat as auto sales slipped and regulatory credits collapsed; operating expenses rose 39%, operating income fell 56%, and EPS dropped from $0.43 to $0.24. The spend-now, profit-later strategy is testing investors' patience. x.com 

Porsche SE offers the best risk/reward to get long in five years as Volkswagen pursues what it calls its biggest business transformation in 87 years, reportedly cutting another 50,000 jobs for 100,000 in total while slimming its lineup. @The_Analyst_Lab counters that the 50,000 is only a target from the plan's analysis, not agreed cuts. Still, Volkswagen has the balance sheet to pull it off, and supervisory board approval was a big hurdle to clear. x.com  x.com 

Tesla's car business is ex-growth and in decline, and its financial numbers are dire. Per the Q3 earnings breakdown quoted in the post, total revenue was flat, automotive revenue fell 3% year over year, net income fell 43% and free cash flow fell 62%. x.com  x.com 

Tesla's falling automotive revenue and shrinking energy business undermine its growth-company case. In Q3 2026, automotive revenue fell 3% year over year and energy revenue fell 16%; operating margin was 2.6%, and revenue missed expectations. These numbers are pathetic even for a mature business and embarrassing for a growth darling. SpaceX has to buy Tesla to mask a weak business inside a stronger one, as Musk did with SolarCity. x.com  x.com  x.com 

Tesla's operating profit keeps shrinking even as revenue rebounds, making it look like a weak cyclical automaker. S&P Capital IQ shows 2025 revenue falling 2.9% to $94.8 billion and EBIT dropping from $7.7 billion in 2024 to $4.4 billion in 2025; latest twelve-month revenue reaches $103.6 billion while EBIT falls further to $3.1 billion. x.com 

Tesla's deliveries are massively disappointing against expectations from several years ago, running below a 2-million-car annual pace even with gas prices through the roof. Sales fell 2% year over year in the quarter and are down for the year. x.com  x.com 

Tesla's margins will keep getting squeezed because it cannot compete in China, the world's most competitive auto market, without perpetually updating its lineup. It is offering further Chinese discounts to counter three straight months of falling sales, and the brand can only hold buyers for so long. x.com 

Tesla's move to open-source Model S and Model X software points to a race to zero in a crowded EV market where it needs higher margins instead. Tesla is also a small producer compared with China, Japan and Korea. x.com  x.com  x.com 

BYD looks like the safer value play because its vehicle sales and revenue exceed Tesla's while its valuation is much lower. The comparison puts BYD at about $111 billion of sales and market cap, versus Tesla's $94.8 billion sales and $1.45 trillion cap; BYD delivered 2.26 million battery EVs against Tesla's 1.64 million in 2025. China's price war still keeps BYD's margins thin. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com