NEW YORK, Jan 22, 2026, 09:21 (EST) — Premarket
- Tesla shares climbed roughly 1.2% in premarket trading, building on Wednesday’s bounce.
- Musk cautioned that early production of the Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus will be “agonizingly slow” initially, before picking up pace.
- Insurer Lemonade announced it plans to lower rates for Tesla drivers using Full Self-Driving. Tesla, meanwhile, dismissed rumors about major layoffs at its Berlin-area factory.
Tesla shares climbed about 1.2% to $436.78 in premarket trading Thursday, following a 2.9% gain on Wednesday that closed at $431.44. (The Wall Street Journal)
The stock is now a test of how quickly Tesla can deliver on its ambitious self-driving and robotics goals with concrete results. Next week’s earnings report and call will be right at the heart of that debate.
Elon Musk warned that initial production of Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi and the Optimus humanoid robot will crawl before picking up speed, citing the complexity of new parts and manufacturing steps. He said the early output would be “agonizingly slow,” but predicted it would “eventually end up being insanely fast.” Reuters described the Cybercab as a two-seater without manual controls like a steering wheel or pedals. (Reuters)
Tesla announced it built 434,358 vehicles and delivered 418,227 in Q4, hitting a record 14.2 gigawatt-hours in energy storage deployments. The automaker plans to release its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes on Jan. 28, followed by a live Q&A webcast at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. (Tesla Investor Relations)
Lemonade announced a 50% rate cut for Tesla owners when their cars are driven using the automaker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. The insurer will rely on Tesla’s telemetry data to track FSD miles separately from human-driven ones under its pay-per-mile plans. Co-founder Shai Wininger told Reuters the company monitors “every minute, every second” a Tesla is on the road. Their data indicates FSD roughly halves the risk for the average driver, though he emphasized the technology “are not fully autonomous yet” and still needs a driver ready to take control. The offer will roll out in Arizona on Jan. 26, followed by Oregon in February. (Reuters)
For traders, the Lemonade shift stands out as an unusual external cue in a battle mostly shaped by Tesla disclosures and Musk’s tweets. It also brings insurance economics into the autonomy conversation, just as regulators ramp up demands for clarity on safety claims and real-world results.
Tesla has denied claims of major layoffs at its Berlin-area factory in Gruenheide, its only European production site. The company said there was “no significant reduction” in permanent staff compared with 2024, nor plans to cut headcount. This contradicts a Handelsblatt report that said the workforce had dropped by about 1,700 employees, or 14%, since 2024. (Reuters)
Berlin’s back-and-forth puts pressure on a familiar Tesla weakness: output and staffing come under the microscope as the company juggles tight execution margins while funding its next big project.
Yet moving from prototypes to mass production often shifts timelines. If Cybercab and Optimus scale up slowly, the stock will rely more heavily on the main car segment. New regulatory moves targeting driver-assistance features could also unsettle investors.
Investors have two key dates ahead: Lemonade’s rollout on Jan. 26 and Tesla’s earnings on Jan. 28. At the Tesla call, expect Elon Musk to field tough questions about Cybercab production schedules, Optimus milestones, and how quickly Full Self-Driving is advancing.
