NEW YORK, March 24, 2026, 10:19 AM EDT
Tesla Inc climbed close to 1% on Tuesday as fresh numbers indicated the EV company saw its first European growth in over a year. Gains were limited, with U.S. markets broadly starting the day in the red. TSLA traded at $384.46, up around 0.9%, in late-morning New York action.
This shift is crucial as investors look for evidence that Tesla’s main auto business can regain its footing, even as Elon Musk plows money into ambitious projects like robotaxis and humanoid robots. Analysts have slashed their 2026 delivery growth outlook, now projecting just 3.8%—down sharply from the 8.2% they called for back in January. Some on the Street are now bracing for Tesla to post declining deliveries for a third consecutive year.
Tesla snapped a 13-month slide in February, with ACEA data showing registrations up 11.8% from a year ago. BYD did better—its sales more than doubled for the month. Both automakers ended up with a 1.8% share of the market.
Broader numbers told a different story. New car registrations for the EU, UK, and EFTA rose 1.7% in February. Battery-electric sales jumped 20.6%, plug-in hybrids were up 32.1%—both outpacing the overall market. Demand for EVs continues to climb, even as Tesla scrambles to hold onto its slice.
Musk threw out a new angle over the weekend, mentioning a plan for SpaceX to put advanced chip factories in Austin. “We either build the Terafab or we don’t have the chips,” he said. No timeline yet. Reuters
Some skepticism lingers on the auto front. Seth Goldstein at Morningstar flagged headwinds for Tesla from disappearing U.S. EV tax credits and intensifying rivals overseas, particularly in Europe. He’s now “forecasting a third straight year of deliveries decline in 2026.” Goldstein noted tepid demand for Tesla’s lower-priced, no-frills trims as well. Reuters
Competition is heating up well past the car market. Amazon’s Zoox announced Tuesday it’s ramping up robotaxi service in San Francisco and Las Vegas, plus kicking off trials in Austin and Miami. Alphabet’s Waymo still sits at the top. Tesla, meanwhile, could bring its small Austin operation to scale fast—assuming its software lives up to expectations.
But regulation looms as the wild card. Last week, U.S. auto safety officials ratcheted up pressure on Tesla by launching an engineering analysis—an escalation in their investigation into 3.2 million vehicles with Full Self-Driving, or FSD. The system, which still relies on drivers staying alert, is now under a closer microscope, with a recall on the table. For Tesla, a big chunk of its valuation is still pinned to the autonomy and robotics story, not just the cars it sells.
Tesla on Friday signaled it’s looking for a Dutch verdict on FSD Supervised by April 10, with possible EU-wide clearance sometime this summer. Any holdup threatens to impede Tesla’s rollout in a European market analysts already call fiercely competitive.
Tesla wrapped up 2025 sitting on $44.06 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments. Yet, with Wall Street projecting over $20 billion in capital expenditures this year—and expectations for negative cash flow after seven years in the black—the arguments over the stock aren’t going away anytime soon.
