NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 16:13 ET — After-hours
- Tesla shares were down 3.3% late in Monday’s regular session, extending a pullback from last week’s record high.
- South Korea’s L&F cut the stated value of its Tesla battery-material supply deal to $7,386 from an earlier $2.9 billion projection.
- Investors are turning to year-end autonomy headlines and an early-January delivery update as the next near-term catalysts.
Tesla Inc (TSLA) shares were down 3.3% at $459.51 late in Monday’s regular session after South Korea’s L&F said the value of its battery-material supply deal with Tesla had shrunk to $7,386 from an earlier projection of $2.9 billion. “There is anxiety about the battery sector overall,” said Cho Hyun-ryul, a senior analyst at Samsung Securities. 1
The supplier disclosure matters because Tesla is closing out the year with investors demanding proof points on the parts of its story that sit outside core vehicle sales.
Small shifts in demand signals can hit the stock harder at year-end, when positioning changes and liquidity thins, and when Tesla’s valuation still leans heavily on future technology milestones.
U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday as heavyweight tech names retreated, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closing down about half a percent. Tesla fell after hitting a record high last week and weighed on the consumer discretionary sector. 2
L&F’s revision put fresh attention on Tesla’s “4680” battery program. The 4680 is a cylindrical cell design; “cathode materials” are the ingredients used on the positive side of the battery.
L&F said the 2023 agreement covered high-nickel cathode materials supplied from January 2024 through December 2025. Analysts cited in the report said the contract was linked to Tesla’s in-house 4680 cells.
The cut also fed into a wider debate on how quickly automakers can scale new battery technology while keeping costs down, even as electric-vehicle demand growth cools in key markets.
Tesla did not immediately comment on the supplier update, and L&F did not give a reason for the revised deal value.
Investors are also navigating a holiday-affected week. Market participants are watching U.S. economic releases, including Federal Reserve meeting minutes and weekly jobless claims, for signals on rates and risk appetite.
The next Tesla-specific readout is the company’s fourth-quarter delivery report, typically released in early January. FactSet’s consensus estimate stands at about 449,000 deliveries, Sherwood News reported, down 9.5% from a year earlier. 3
Traders are also looking for any update tied to CEO Elon Musk’s year-end goal of operating Model Y robotaxis in Austin without a human “safety monitor” — a person who rides in the vehicle to oversee operations. 4
On the chart, the late-session low near $459 has become a near-term support area, while the prior close around $475 is the first resistance zone for Tesla shares heading into Tuesday.
