Tesla's $1.53 billion of Q3 free cash flow leaned heavily on bills it hadn't paid yet, and $588 million of it traces to Megapacks SpaceX hasn't received. Those details are in Tesla's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, filed on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, and in an Electrek analysis of the filing published Thursday, Oct. 22.

The capex wording

The 10-Q says: "We currently expect our capital expenditures to be in excess of $20 billion in 2026, driven by our SI initiatives, including investments in compute infrastructure and data centers," plus factory and R&D line ramps and Tesla's fleet of "company-operated SI-enabled assets." Electrek noted Tesla had guided to "more than $25 billion" since April. Tesla has spent $13.01 billion so far this year ($2.49 billion in Q1, $5.79 billion in Q2 and $4.73 billion in Q3), so the new floor implies about $7 billion in Q4, Electrek calculated. We covered the call-side version of this in Tesla's capex cut story.

SpaceX and the undelivered Megapacks

According to the 10-Q, accounts receivable from SpaceX were $729 million at Sept. 30, including milestone billings and capacity reservations "for Megapacks that have not been delivered." Deferred revenue on those SpaceX Megapack contracts was $648 million. Net of the $588 million for undelivered Megapacks, Tesla said, SpaceX receivables would be $141 million and deferred revenue $60 million. Electrek said that amount sits in both deferred revenue and receivables. Tesla's Megapack sales to Musk's AI and space businesses were also a theme of our earlier Q3 energy story.

Where the cash flow came from, per Electrek

  • Operating cash flow was $6.26 billion and capex $4.73 billion, leaving $1.53 billion of free cash flow (matching Tesla's Q3 update).
  • Working capital changes added $2.59 billion. Without them, Electrek calculated, free cash flow would have been about negative $1.06 billion.
  • Accounts payable rose $1.92 billion and accrued liabilities rose $1.95 billion in the quarter, Electrek said.
  • Electrek said $3.67 billion of equipment and construction spending was booked but not yet paid at the end of September, up from $2.63 billion at the end of June.

Electrek called the accounting "somewhat normal" and disclosed, but said the timing items "will reverse when the invoices come due and the Megapacks ship."

New credit lines

The 10-Q also details a $20 billion senior unsecured delayed-draw term loan signed in September 2026 and maturing in September 2029. Electrek reported that Tesla hadn't drawn on its new credit facilities at quarter-end and had $45.4 billion in cash and investments.

Related: Tesla's full Q3 2026 results.