NEW YORK, March 18, 2026, 11:01 (EDT)
Tesla hovered just under $400 in early Wednesday trade, off 0.2% at $398.35, after Samsung Electronics announced plans to kick off volume production of Tesla chips at its Texas facility in the latter half of 2027.
Tesla’s valuation has shifted—investors are now treating it more as an AI and robotics play than just an EV manufacturer. Back in January, Tesla committed $2 billion to xAI, pushed capital spending for this year north of $20 billion, and cautioned that chip shortages could “fundamentally” constrain growth if the supply chain can’t keep pace. Reuters
It’s not just semiconductors seeing a supply surge. U.S. officials said Monday that Tesla and LG Energy Solution have inked a deal for a $4.3 billion lithium iron phosphate battery-cell facility in Michigan. The batteries coming out of that plant will go into Tesla’s Megapack 3 storage systems in Houston. Lithium iron phosphate—LFP for short—costs less than other chemistries and is common in both grid storage and more affordable vehicles.
Samsung has now pinned down a specific date for part of its expansion strategy. On Saturday, Musk announced Tesla’s Terafab chip project is set to kick off within the next week. According to Reuters, Musk also doubled down on connections with both Samsung and TSMC, and left open the possibility that Tesla could talk chip production with Intel.
Morgan Stanley’s Andrew Percoco on Wednesday called Tesla’s push to scale an unsupervised robotaxi fleet “the most important catalyst” for its shares this year—those would run with no human safety driver. But another Morgan Stanley perspective, according to Investopedia, flagged the company’s in-house fab as a hefty challenge, saying chip production might not begin before at least mid-2028. Investing.com
Shares have been reacting to AI-driven headlines for several sessions. Tesla picked up 1.1% on Monday, drawing buyers shifting into AI-adjacent stocks after Musk mentioned the Terafab rollout. That move came while much of the market kept eyes on oil prices and the Fed.
The old pressure hasn’t let up. Last week, Reuters said analysts have slashed their 2026 delivery growth forecasts for Tesla to 3.8%, down from 8.2% back in January. Morningstar’s Seth Goldstein is now projecting a drop of almost 5%. Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas flagged a risk that heavier spending could push Tesla’s cash burn above $8 billion. BYD, for its part, slipped past Tesla last year to become the world’s top EV producer.
Right now, Tesla’s stock price reflects hopes for its future, rather than its current sales. New developments in chips and batteries have given the shares a lift, though shareholders are still looking for evidence that all this investment will actually deliver—robotaxis, an expanding energy business, and more consistent demand for its vehicles.
