The electric vehicle maker run by billionaire Elon Musk said it earned $US477 million ($A666 million) in the quarter, up 17 per cent from a year ago.
Earnings per share totalled 13 cents. Adjusted for certain items, per share earnings were 41 cents, topping Wall Street estimates of 36 cents.
Revenue rose to $US22.39 billion ($A31.28 billion), led by a 16 per cent increase in automotive revenues.
Still, profits and revenue are far below their peak when its cars were grabbing market share. Now that is in reverse as European and Chinese rivals steal its customers. The company last year lost its crown as the world's largest EV maker to China's BYD.
Musk has repeatedly shrugged off its car troubles, emphasising that Tesla's future lies less in car sales than getting people to take rides in them as self-driving taxis.
The company said robotaxi miles doubled in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. They are currently running in San Francisco and three Texas cities, including Austin where Tesla is headquartered.
Musk also highlighted Tesla's production of robots for homes and businesses In a conference call with investors on Wednesday. He talked about breaking ground for a new factory in Texas for the robots, called Optimus, with a potential capacity of making 10 million a year.
"I think Optimus will be our biggest product," Musk said.
"Not just Tesla's biggest product ever, but probably the biggest product ever."
The company noted it has begun making its so-called Cybercabs without pedals or wheels. And Musk added a teaser in the call, saying Tesla could debut a new manually driven Roadster sports car in a month or so.
The company is spending big on its transition, including $US2.5 billion ($A3.5 billion) last quarter in capital expenditures, up 67 per cent from the year earlier period.
Musk warned of "a very significant increase" in the future, too.
Shares fell 1.0 per cent in after-hours trading.
The company in January had forecast more than $US20 billion ($A28 billion) in capital expenses for 2026. In 2025, it spent $US9 billion ($A13 billion).
"We are in a very big capital-investment phase, which is going to start now and would last a couple of years," Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said, adding that the company will record negative free cash flow for the rest of 2026.
with Reuters
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