NEW YORK, Dec. 28, 2025, 5:10 p.m. ET — Market closed (weekend)
Tesla, Inc. stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) heads into the final week of 2025 with U.S. equity markets shut for the weekend, but the narrative around the shares remains anything but quiet. Tesla ended the last trading session at $475.19, down about 2.1% from the prior close, after swinging between roughly $473.82 and $488.90 intraday. [1]
The next directional cue for Tesla stock is likely to arrive quickly: stock index futures reopen Sunday evening, setting the tone for Monday’s open, while investors balance the “big tech + AI” trade that propelled 2025 against fresh questions around robotaxis, regulation, and Tesla’s near-term delivery trajectory. [2]
Market backdrop: record highs, thin liquidity, and Fed minutes in focus
Tesla’s weekend setup comes as Wall Street broadly tries to finish 2025 on a high note. Reuters reported that major U.S. indexes were at record peaks and the S&P 500 was hovering about 1% from the 7,000 level, with investors also watching for rotation beyond technology. Reuters also flagged year-end portfolio adjustments and light volumes—a combination that can amplify price moves. [3]
The calendar is also shaping sentiment. According to Reuters, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting are due Tuesday, and market participants remain focused on the rate path going into 2026. [4]
Investopedia similarly highlighted a holiday-shortened week ahead due to New Year’s Day (Thursday), with key scheduled releases including pending home sales (Monday), Case-Shiller home prices (Tuesday), weekly jobless claims (Wednesday), and the December FOMC minutes (Tuesday). [5]
Tesla stock recap: why TSLA cooled off into the weekend
While Tesla remains one of the market’s most watched momentum names, the stock’s latest pullback reflects a familiar tension: investors continue to price Tesla as an AI/autonomy platform, even as headlines and regulatory threads pull attention back to the underlying auto business and safety questions.
MarketBeat noted Tesla’s decline on Friday came with lighter-than-average volume, and framed the week’s headline mix as a tug-of-war between robotaxi enthusiasm and regulatory risks. [6]
Robotaxis: momentum—and a sharper regulatory spotlight
A major weekend theme for Tesla investors is that the robotaxi story is increasingly being shaped not just by product demos, but by the evolving regulatory and safety conversation around autonomous fleets.
On Saturday, Reuters reported that a San Francisco power outage earlier this month left Waymo robotaxis stalled at intersections, renewing debate about how autonomous services should behave in crisis conditions. The report explicitly noted that companies including Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox are racing to expand robotaxi services—while experts urge stronger rules governing remote operations (“teleoperation”) and emergency response. [7]
Reuters quoted Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon computer-engineering professor focused on autonomous technology, arguing regulators should require proof that severe emergency scenarios can be handled properly. Reuters also cited Missy Cummings, director of George Mason University’s Autonomy and Robotics Center and a former adviser to the U.S. road safety regulator, calling for federal regulation of remote operations. [8]
For Tesla stock, the takeaway is straightforward: even if optimism around autonomy supports valuation, the regulatory bar and public-safety expectations are rising, and they can move the stock quickly—especially in thin year-end trading.
Safety and regulatory overhang: NHTSA door-release investigation
Adding to that backdrop, Tesla continues to deal with safety-related headlines.
Reuters reported that U.S. auto safety regulator NHTSA opened a defect investigation into about 179,071 model-year 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles over concerns that emergency door release controls may not be easily accessible or identifiable in an emergency. Reuters noted the investigation followed a defect petition and that opening such a review does not necessarily mean a recall will be issued. [9]
This matters for TSLA not only because investigations can create headline volatility, but also because the market is trying to decide how much “autonomy optionality” offsets near-term legal and regulatory friction.
Energy keeps building: the UK Megapack narrative
While EV demand and deliveries dominate most Tesla debates, Tesla’s energy storage business continues to supply bulls with a second growth lane.
Nasdaq (publishing a Zacks analysis) highlighted Tesla’s recent 1 GWh Megapack project with Matrix Renewables in Scotland, describing the UK as a key proving ground for grid-scale storage needed to balance intermittent renewables. [10]
Separately, Matrix Renewables’ own press release said it signed a full EPC agreement with Tesla for a 500 MW / 2-hour (1 GWh) standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) in Eccles, Scotland, with Tesla Energy VP Mike Snyder describing the partnership as a “landmark project.” [11]
Tesla’s Investor Relations disclosures reinforce why the energy segment gets attention: Tesla reported deploying 12.5 GWh of energy storage products in Q3 2025, alongside record vehicle deliveries for the quarter. [12]
Forecasts and analyst calls: deliveries vs. “robotaxi valuation”
Into the final trading days of 2025, the biggest near-term catalyst investors are bracing for is Tesla’s year-end operational update cycle—especially Q4 deliveries.
Investors.com reported Tesla is expected to report Q4 2025 global deliveries around Jan. 2, and cited analyst forecasts pointing to a potential year-over-year decline (the report cited an estimate of 449,000 deliveries, down 9.5% year over year). [13]
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank’s view—carried by multiple market outlets—captures the broader Street split: near-term delivery pressure versus long-term autonomy upside. Investing.com reported Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu raised Tesla’s price target to $500 (from $470) while flagging delivery and margin pressure, and said the robotaxi narrative remains a key support for Tesla’s valuation. [14]
For a wider snapshot of sentiment, MarketBeat’s compiled analyst data shows a consensus “Hold” rating based on 44 analyst ratings, with an average price target of $414.50—below the current price—highlighting how unusually wide the range of outcomes remains for TSLA. [15]
What investors should watch before Monday’s open
With the exchange closed, Tesla stock can’t react to headlines until futures reopen and Monday trading begins—but investors can still prepare for what’s most likely to move TSLA next:
1) Expect a faster tape and bigger gaps.
Reuters warned that light year-end volumes can exaggerate moves, and futures reopening Sunday evening can quickly reset positioning for Monday’s cash session. [16]
2) Track the macro calendar because high-multiple stocks react to rates.
Investopedia flagged Tuesday’s Fed minutes and multiple economic releases as the key scheduled events in the holiday-shortened week. For Tesla—a stock often treated as both “mega-cap tech” and “AI optionality”—rate expectations can matter as much as company-specific news. [17]
3) Watch for any last-minute robotaxi or regulatory headlines.
Reuters’ Waymo-outage analysis underscores that emergency handling, remote operations, and permitting standards are becoming core issues for the entire robotaxi industry—including Tesla. Any policy hint from regulators, or evidence of operational readiness, can ripple through TSLA quickly. [18]
4) Keep the near-term Tesla calendar in mind.
Investors.com pointed to Tesla’s upcoming Q4 deliveries update around early January—a report that often creates a sharp, immediate price response, especially when expectations are already shifting. [19]
Bottom line for TSLA into year-end
Tesla stock enters the last stretch of 2025 with the market in a risk-on mood near record highs—but the stock’s next move is likely to be driven by whether fresh evidence supports the valuation narrative around autonomy and AI, and whether deliveries, safety investigations, or regulation complicate that story.
For now, TSLA remains a classic year-end setup: high expectations, headline sensitivity, and an unusually wide band of analyst forecasts—an environment where Monday’s first hour can matter as much as the news itself. [20]
References
1. www.marketbeat.com, 2. www.investors.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.investopedia.com, 6. www.marketbeat.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.nasdaq.com, 11. matrixrenewables.com, 12. ir.tesla.com, 13. www.investors.com, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.marketbeat.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.investopedia.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.investors.com, 20. www.marketbeat.com
