NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 18:14 ET — Market closed
- Tesla shares fell 2.1% in the latest session, ending Friday at $475.19.
- Thin year-end trading left big momentum names exposed to swings, even as U.S. indexes hovered near record levels.
- Traders are watching Tuesday’s Fed minutes and the next round of Tesla delivery and earnings updates.
Tesla shares closed down 2.1% on Friday at $475.19, heading into the final stretch of the year with U.S. stock markets shut on Sunday.
The stock’s dip came in a light-volume, post-Christmas session that left Wall Street’s main indexes little changed, while consumer discretionary — the sector that houses Tesla — lagged.
That matters now because thin year-end liquidity can amplify moves, and Tesla sits at the center of investor debate over how much value to assign to autonomous driving.
Regulators and investors have been revisiting emergency-readiness for robotaxis — driverless ride-hailing services — after a San Francisco power outage earlier this month snarled Alphabet’s Waymo fleet at intersections when traffic lights went dark.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Utilities Commission said they were looking into the incident, while Waymo said it is implementing fleet-wide updates to refine its response during power outages.
“Momentum is certainly on the side of the bulls,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth adviser and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management, describing the broader market’s late-year tone. Reuters
Tesla has its own safety headlines in the background. U.S. auto safety regulators opened a defect investigation into 2022 Model 3 sedans over concerns emergency door release controls may not be easily accessible or clearly identifiable in an emergency.
The probe covers about 179,071 vehicles and followed a petition alleging the mechanical release is hidden, unlabeled and difficult to locate, regulators said.
Tesla vehicles rely primarily on electronic door latches opened by buttons rather than traditional mechanical handles, with a manual release intended for emergencies or power failures, regulators said.
On Friday, Tesla traded between $473.82 and $488.90 after opening at $485.41, with about 58.8 million shares changing hands.
Macro watchers are also circling Tuesday’s release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 9–10 meeting — the detailed account of policymakers’ rate debate — for clues on the path of interest rates.
The Fed has cut rates by 75 basis points over its last three meetings of 2025 to a 3.50%–3.75% range, and investors have been focused on when further cuts may come.
Before the next session, traders will be watching whether year-end portfolio repositioning extends the seasonal “Santa Claus rally” window that spans the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new one. Reuters+1
Tesla-specific attention turns to quarterly vehicle deliveries, which the company releases separately from earnings; it last reported third-quarter deliveries on Oct. 2.
For results, Wall Street Horizon lists Tesla’s next earnings date as an unconfirmed Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, after market close.
On the chart, traders are watching Friday’s low around $474 as near-term technical support — a level where buyers have recently stepped in — while the recent high near $489 is the next resistance, where selling has tended to emerge.
