NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 06:15 ET — Market closed.
Tesla (TSLA) shares ended down 2.6% at $438.07 in the last session, after the electric-vehicle maker released its quarterly production and delivery update. The stock traded between $435.33 and $462.42 on Friday.
The data landed on the first trading day of 2026, giving investors an early read on demand. Deliveries, a proxy for sales that counts vehicles handed to customers, remain one of Tesla’s most-watched metrics.
Truist analyst William Stein cut his price target — an analyst’s estimate of where a stock should trade — to $439 from $444 and kept a Hold rating after the update, according to TheFly. He described the early reaction as “better than feared” and pointed investors to Tesla’s artificial-intelligence efforts, including Full Self-Driving (FSD), its driver-assistance software that still requires driver supervision. TipRanks
Tesla said it delivered 418,227 vehicles in the October-December quarter after producing 434,358. It reported 2025 deliveries of 1,636,129 vehicles and quarterly energy storage deployments of 14.2 gigawatt-hours, a measure of battery capacity; full-year deployments were 46.7 GWh.
Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected 434,487 fourth-quarter deliveries, Reuters reported, as Tesla posted a second straight annual decline and ceded its top all-electric seller spot to China’s BYD. Tesla has been trying to defend volumes with lower-priced “Standard” versions of the Model 3 and Model Y launched in October, after the loss of U.S. federal EV tax credits and intensifying competition from rivals including Volkswagen and BMW. Reuters
Fresh European registration data underscored the uneven demand picture: Tesla’s December registrations fell 66% in France and 71% in Sweden, while Norway bucked the trend with an 89% jump and a record year, Reuters reported.
Weak deliveries have rippled across the sector. Rivian said 2025 deliveries fell 18% and came in below estimates, Reuters reported, as U.S. EV demand softened after the federal tax credit ended.
For Tesla, the gap between what it built and what it delivered in the quarter will keep margin and inventory questions in focus. Investors are also watching whether more pricing moves are needed to defend share without eroding profits.
Before next session, traders will look for signs the stock can stabilize after Friday’s wide range, with the session low near $435 acting as an immediate reference point. The next push higher will likely need fresh catalysts beyond delivery headlines.
Tesla is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 28, according to its investor relations calendar. Investors will listen for commentary on pricing, demand trends in key regions and how quickly the energy business can scale relative to the car division.
A regulatory filing showed Tesla attached the production-and-delivery release to a Form 8-K, a current report companies use to disclose important updates to investors. That leaves the earnings release and management’s outlook as the next major checkpoint for the stock.
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