Tesla's profit sinks as it bets on robots, while SpaceX merger talk heats up

Tesla's Q3 net income fell 43% to $787M on flat revenue of about $28B. It cut 2026 capex to roughly $20B, started early Optimus robot production, and pushed customer cars joining the robotaxi fleet to around Q2 2027. Separately, Bloomberg reported that Tesla and SpaceX are aiming to announce a merger in the first half of 2027; talks are described as early.