Tesla opened $30 billion in lines of credit according to a regulatory filing today. The loans come as company profits have dropped in recent years, and as Tesla guides for more spending in upcoming quarters.
For its first decade and a half of operation, Tesla sales and revenue basically did nothing but increase. The company grew and grew, at a rapid rate, and justified basically any money spent on chasing more growth with what seemed like near-infinite demand as it scaled.
That lasted until 2024, when Tesla went from 38% growth the prior year to a 1% drop in 2024.
Since then, profitability has been rough for the company, with it having to book some questionable one-time profits in order to eke out profitability. Even with that, profits have remained low.
One downward pressure on profits has been Tesla’s increased amount of capital expenditures as it chases various pie-in-the-sky ideas like cars without steering wheels, cars that don’t gain any performance benefit from flying, and the promise of one man controlling a trillion-dollar robot army.
CapEx more than doubled in the last quarter, and Tesla says that it will remain high in the current environment of extremely high spending by tech companies. The company expects to spend a total of $25 billion in 2026 (up from $8.5 billion in 2025), and analysts expect similar CapEx in 2027.
So, given falling profits and increasing capital expenditures, Tesla is now taking out a big loan to fill the gap.
Today’s regulatory filing shows that Tesla has taken out a total of $30 billion in loan facilities from Citi and Wells Fargo. The loans come in terms between one and five years, and replace a previous $5 billion credit line which Tesla had previously filed for (but had no current debt from).
The company says it doesn’t expect to have to draw from the credit line in 2026, but the end of 2026 is only three months away, and a lot of spending is planned for next year.
The loan amounts for quite a lot of cash, equivalent to about a quarter worth of Tesla’s revenues at current revenue levels. But compared to Tesla’s profits, which have been razor-thin in the few hundreds of millions in the last few quarters, it’s a much bigger chunk of money.
Most worryingly, last quarter, Tesla was cash flow negative for the first time since Q1 2024, when it experienced a massive drop in sales. Prior to that, Tesla had been cash flow positive for years running.
So, despite Tesla having some $43 billion in cash in the bank as of its last quarterly report, it felt the need to take out a rather large loan to finance its operating activities – automotive is a pretty money-intensive business, after all – and to pay for its ventures into various product ideas that may not produce revenue anytime soon.
Tesla has had little to show for its increased CapEx so far. While it is rolling out three products this month (er, well, one has been delayed), all three of those products were announced a decade ago in some form or another. One of them still doesn’t work (Cybercab), one has been slow to ramp (Semi), and one seems to exist just to sell investors on SpaceX merger hype (Roadster).
Between those and Tesla’s other promised future products, it’s going to cost a lot to fund all these ideas. It remains to be seen whether or when any of them pan out – and whether Tesla will need more money to finance them beyond this new $30B loan.
Charge your electric vehicle at home using rooftop solar panels. Find a reliable and competitively priced solar installer near you on EnergySage, for free. They have pre-vetted installers competing for your business, ensuring high-quality solutions and 20-30% savings. It’s free, with no sales calls until you choose an installer. Compare personalized solar quotes online and receive guidance from unbiased Energy Advisers. Get started here. – ad*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
