New York, February 27, 2026, 16:29 EST — After-hours
Tesla (TSLA.O) ended Friday down roughly 2%, settling at $400.45 after fluctuating from $398.13 to $407.11 during the session. That drop followed Thursday’s 2.1% slide.
Tesla’s shares slipped, with focus staying on the company’s robotaxi ambitions — the planned driverless ride-hailing service — following a Reuters report that Tesla again recorded zero autonomous test miles on California roads in 2025, marking six consecutive years. The company also hasn’t filed for key state permits required for a paid, fully driverless operation. In sharp relief: Alphabet’s Waymo remains the only player cleared to run a completely driverless taxi fleet in California.
Tesla’s valuation still leans heavily on its autonomy narrative, especially with the core car business behaving like any other automaker. California sets the stage, but the real countdown is in those permits.
Tesla’s been moving more like a high-multiple tech name lately, and tech shares as a whole have looked unsettled. Nvidia dropped 5.5% Thursday, while the Nasdaq shed 1.2%, as debate over what counts as “too expensive” among the big tech names flared up once again. Reuters
Tesla is taking its fight with California regulators to court, challenging accusations that its “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) labels mislead about how much oversight these features actually need from a human driver. State officials argue the branding promises more than the tech delivers. Earlier this month, Tesla filed a lawsuit trying to throw out an administrative decision it slammed as “factually wrong” and “legally flawed,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tesla’s Cybercab team just lost Victor Nechita, the vehicle program manager. Nechita announced his exit on LinkedIn, Barron’s reported, calling out the team’s efforts to “push the boundaries of efficiency, safety, and affordability.” Tesla, according to Barron’s, had no comment on his leaving. Barron’s
Investors got fresh information in a securities filing. Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson disclosed a Form 144, signaling a planned insider sale of 25,731 shares valued around $10.5 million, according to the document. The filing also referenced a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan set up on Nov. 26, 2025—these plans lock in a schedule for selling shares in advance.
Still, things could swing the other way in the short term. If Tesla chooses to push ahead, permits can land fast—assuming it thinks the paperwork is worth the hassle. Any hint that regulators are speeding things up could shift sentiment quickly. The risks are just as clear: more regulatory requirements or a fresh safety snag, and the timeline drags out, which usually spells trouble for the stock.
All eyes now shift to the U.S. jobs data coming March 6, a key readout for traders tracking rates and growth ahead of the Fed’s March 17–18 meeting. Tesla’s near-term trigger looks tighter: concrete action with California regulators — think filed permits, not talk — plus sharper specifics on the next phase for its robotaxi testing.
