New York, May 24, 2026, 12:05 (EDT)
Tesla stock heads into the Memorial Day break with a small gain for the week. Investors saw a bounce on Friday, but questions about Elon Musk’s other businesses, a new Model Y recall, and incoming macro data for growth stocks hang in the air.
Nasdaq’s hours are key here. Its main trading day is Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, but the exchange says markets will be shut for Memorial Day on May 25, 2026. So, Tesla won’t trade again until that Tuesday.
Tesla ended Friday at $426.01, up 1.95% for the session. Shares fell early in the week, dropping on Monday and Tuesday, but managed to recover those losses by Friday. For the week, the stock was up around 0.9% from last Friday’s $422.24. It’s a modest move for Tesla, but it kept the chart stable ahead of the long weekend.
Stocks moved up in a strong session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at a record Friday. The S&P 500 posted its eighth straight weekly gain. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.19% at 26,343.97, according to Reuters.
SpaceX filed for an IPO on Wednesday and chose Nasdaq as its listing venue, giving Tesla shares a fresh spark. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities told clients SpaceX and Tesla could “eventually merge.” Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading, said a public SpaceX may end up being “another way to play Elon Musk.” Reuters
Tesla’s stock gets some of its valuation from investors betting it’s more than just an EV maker—there’s AI, robotaxis, and robotics in the story too. The company hiked its 2026 capital spending target to over $25 billion last month. Capex, which covers factories and other big-ticket assets, is ramping up. Elon Musk called the spend “well justified.” CFO Vaibhav Taneja described Tesla as being in a “very big capital-investment phase.” Reuters
Autonomy is still where the fight is. Last week, Musk said he sees cars without human safety drivers getting more common in the U.S. this year. He thinks AI could handle “90% of all distance driven” in the next decade. Reuters reported Tesla’s robotaxi in Texas has seen long waits and tricky drop-offs. Reuters
Waymo halts U.S. freeway robotaxi service, pausing Atlanta, as safety fixes hit AV market
Alphabet’s Waymo has suspended freeway robotaxi rides in the U.S. and put its Atlanta service on hold. The company is working on new software for handling construction and flooded streets. Tesla, Waymo, and Amazon’s Zoox are all in the mix, with safety issues turning engineering problems into market risks fast.
Tesla is set to recall 14,575 Model Y SUVs in the U.S. after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that a certification label showing weight specs is missing. Tesla will check the vehicles and add the required label. No injuries, deaths, or crashes have been reported.
PCE inflation data is due May 28, and economists are watching for signs that price growth is running faster than the Federal Reserve’s policy rate. The Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the new Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which measures consumer prices. Reuters said this week’s numbers are expected to show headline inflation above the Fed’s current rate.
Downside risks look clear. A hotter inflation number could push yields higher and weigh on high-priced growth stocks. Nomura on Friday said it’s no longer calling for Fed rate cuts this year, pointing to sticky inflation and doubts that officials will actually lower rates. SpaceX making its public debut could pull some “Musk premium” from Tesla, and any delays or safety questions on robotaxis would make it tougher for investors to overlook weakness in Tesla’s main car business. Reuters
The stock is still holding up. Tuesday’s open should say if buyers see last week’s gain as a reset or if it was just a pause before more questions hit.
