New York, June 9, 2026, 07:02 (EDT)
- Tesla ended Monday’s trading at $408.97, up 4.63%. Shares last changed hands at $408.95 ahead of Tuesday’s open.
- China retail auto sales hit 47,281 vehicles in May, up 22.53% from a year ago, according to CPCA.
- Next up is a messier test: U.S. inflation numbers, a bounce in high-growth tech, and the modest size of Tesla’s robotaxi fleet.
Tesla shares were set to open higher on the Nasdaq on Tuesday after bouncing back sharply Monday. New China sales numbers put the EV maker back in focus for investors after a rocky run.
June 9 falls on a regular trading day for U.S. markets. Nasdaq’s main session is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, with pre-market hours from 4:00 a.m. up to the open. The next market holiday for Nasdaq is Juneteenth on June 19.
The stock is gaining as growth shares find support from a stronger tape. U.S. stock index futures climbed early Tuesday. At 5:57 a.m. ET, Nasdaq 100 futures had added 0.81%. Chip stocks kept up their rebound, and worries over Middle East tensions cooled off, according to Reuters.
Tesla’s China numbers drove the main move for the shares. The company sold 47,281 vehicles at retail in China in May, up 22.53% on the year and jumping 82.16% from April, China Passenger Car Association figures showed Monday, as cited by CnEVPost. That broke a two-month streak of year-on-year retail drops.
Shanghai trends have been shifting up. Tesla delivered 85,982 China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars in May, including exports, a 39.4% jump from last year, Reuters said last week. BYD, Tesla’s top Chinese competitor, is still shipping plenty overseas. Tesla’s China rebound is playing out in a busy market, not alone.
Tesla is starting to get valued as more than just a car company by Wall Street. J.P. Morgan analysts, led by Rajat Gupta, moved their rating up to “neutral” from “underweight” last week and raised the price target to $475 from $145. The team said Tesla’s mix of hardware and software is still “somewhat under-appreciated and misunderstood.” Reuters
That’s the bullish argument: investors pay up for Tesla as a bet that it can make cars, software, robots and ride-hailing all work as a single platform. That doesn’t mean the stock looks cheap if you just look at near-term earnings.
Musk is in the mix, moving the broader market. Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said hype over big listings like SpaceX has left Wall Street bankers and CEOs “beside themselves.” But she noted “some caution” is also creeping in. Reuters
Tesla’s push into robotaxis is still in focus. Last week, Tesla said it began running unsupervised robotaxis in the Austin area, but Reuters reported city officials estimate Tesla has about 50 cars there—while Alphabet’s Waymo counts over 250 vehicles. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software remains the link between its core car business and the ride-hailing future investors are trying to figure out.
Tesla’s rally is showing some cracks. Retail sales in China from January to May are still down 7.87% year-on-year, even with May numbers up. The country’s new-energy vehicle market, meaning battery-electric and plug-in hybrids, is spotty even at record penetration. Any weakness in June sales, a hold-up in autonomy approvals, or hotter U.S. inflation could leave Monday’s jump looking like just a dead cat bounce.
Tesla got a lift from May China demand, which looked stronger. But the real test starts Tuesday, when it has to show if one good month is enough for a stock trading at expectations for far more growth.
