For a long time, Elon Musk has been emphasizing that Tesla TSLA is no longer just a car company. The company, which revolutionized the electric vehicle (EV) space, is now facing tough times amid intense competition from Chinese players and slower-than-expected e-mobility adoption. Against this changing backdrop, Musk is pushing Tesla deeper into artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomy—areas he believes will define the company’s next growth phase.
This year is shaping up to be an inflection point, as Tesla plans to spend aggressively to build the technology, capacity and infrastructure behind its AI, autonomy and robotics push.
Management expects capital expenditures to exceed $20 billion in 2026, marking a sharp increase from roughly $8.5 billion last year and topping the prior peak of $11.3 billion in 2024. The spending will fund six major facilities— including factories for a refinery, LFP batteries, CyberCab, Semi, a new megafactory and the Optimus robot. Beyond physical plants, Tesla plans to invest heavily in AI compute infrastructure, a critical piece for scaling full self-driving, robotaxis and robotics. The company will also expand capacity at existing factories and build the supporting infrastructure needed to run them efficiently.
Importantly, Tesla also plans to grow its robotaxi fleet and scale Optimus production, reinforcing its ambition to move beyond traditional auto manufacturing. With nearly $44 billion in cash and equivalents, Tesla has the balance sheet to fund this push.
One thing is certain—Tesla is doubling down on becoming a technology and AI-driven company. And its capex push aligns well with the broader shift as companies across the spectrum are ramping up capital investment to secure long-term positions in AI and autonomy.
AI Drives a New Wave of Heavy Capex
Social media giant Meta Platforms META is sharply increasing capital spending as AI becomes a core driver of growth across its ecosystem. Meta plans to boost capex to $115–$135 billion in 2026, a major jump from $72.2 billion last year and more than three times its 2024 spending. Meta is directing this investment toward expanding AI infrastructure, including data centers, advanced compute, and its newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Nebius NBIS is emerging as a fast-growing player in AI infrastructure, with capital spending now taking center stage in its strategy. Nebius outlined an ambitious $5 billion CapEx plan for 2025, up sharply from the earlier guidance of $2 billion. Nebius will use the funds to secure critical power, land, sites, and hardware early, enabling a rapid build-out of data centers and large-scale GPU deployment.
The Zacks Rundown on TSLA Stock
Shares of Tesla have gained 12% over the past year, underperforming the industry.
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From a valuation standpoint, TSLA trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 15.38, above the industry and its own five-year average. It carries a Value Score of F.
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See how the Zacks Consensus Estimate for TSLA’s earnings has been revised over the past 90 days.
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Tesla stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
