New York, January 7, 2026, 08:44 (EST) — Premarket
- Tesla shares were down about 4% before the open, extending a two-day slide.
- Investors refocused on autonomy and robotics competition after CES headlines and deal news.
- Traders are watching U.S. labor data and Tesla’s Jan. 28 earnings update.
Tesla shares fell 4.1% to $432.96 in premarket trading on Wednesday, putting the stock on track for a second straight drop as the market digested fresh autonomy headlines.
The pressure comes as Nvidia this week rolled out “Alpamayo,” an open-source set of AI models and tools aimed at autonomous driving, part of a broader push it framed as a path toward “level 4” systems — vehicles that can drive themselves in specific areas without a human behind the wheel. “Robotaxis are among the first to benefit,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said. NVIDIA Newsroom
That matters for Tesla because a large slice of investor debate still hangs on what comes after cars: robotaxis and humanoid robots, businesses that are not yet mature. Mobileye, the self-driving technology company, said on Tuesday it would buy humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for about $900 million, and Reuters noted Tesla is among the companies racing to develop two-legged robots; Elon Musk has said he expects humanoid robots to become Tesla’s largest business in the long run.
A separate point for traders: a Tesla filing showed director James Murdoch sold 60,000 shares on Jan. 2 through trusts, under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan — a scheduled program that can automatically trigger trades. The Form 4 was filed on Jan. 6.
The broader tape was cautious ahead of U.S. labor readings due on Wednesday and Friday, with investors watching how the numbers might shift expectations for Federal Reserve policy. Stock-index futures were little changed after a strong prior session, Reuters reported.
Chart watchers also had Tesla on their screens after a sharp Tuesday fall that pushed the stock below its 50-day moving average, a widely watched technical marker. That level often acts as a line between momentum buying and profit-taking in big growth names.
But the story can flip fast. Nvidia’s open models do not automatically translate into lost share for Tesla, and any near-term stock swings may say more about risk appetite than about who wins the robotaxi race. Regulation, safety reviews and real-world performance still set the speed limit.
