New York, Feb 24, 2026, 16:17 EST — After-hours
Tesla shares (TSLA.O) closed up 2.4% at $409.38 on Tuesday, rebounding from a 2.9% fall a day earlier. The stock ranged from $397.64 to $410.82, with about 55.6 million shares traded. (Yahoo Finance)
The move matters because Tesla’s price still trades on a mix of near-term car demand and a longer bet on self-driving and robotics. This week has put both on the screen at once, and the market has not been patient with uncertainty.
In Europe, new car registrations data from the region’s auto lobby ACEA showed Tesla sales fell 17% year-on-year in January, the thirteenth straight month of decline. The same dataset showed Chinese automaker BYD’s registrations surging 165% as overall European car sales fell 3.5%. (Reuters)
A U.S. judge also refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Tesla of discriminating against American citizens in hiring so it can pay less to foreign workers. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria wrote the plaintiff had “just enough facts” for the case to proceed but said he was “somewhat skeptical” the engineer would ultimately prevail; the complaint cites a recruiter saying one role was “H1B only,” a reference to U.S. visas for high-skilled foreign workers. (Reuters)
Self-driving remains the other big swing factor, and the industry is still arguing about the middle step. Reuters reported that most assisted-driving systems, including Tesla’s Full Self-Driving, are classified as Level 2 — drivers must watch the road — while Level 3 would allow “eyes-off” driving under tight conditions but can cost up to $1.5 billion to develop; former Waymo CEO John Krafcik said “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.” Tesla has launched a small robotaxi service and plans to expand to a handful of U.S. cities in the first half of 2026, setting up a direct fight with Alphabet-owned Waymo. (Reuters)
Tesla also moved with the broader tone in growth stocks as Wall Street bounced on renewed tech strength and shifting views on AI disruption. “Nobody wants to be the last one holding the bag on some of these names as they get repriced,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth. (Reuters)
But the rebound doesn’t erase the downside. If Europe demand keeps shrinking, competition forces deeper price cuts, or regulators tighten the rules around driver-assistance claims, traders could turn back to the question Tesla keeps trying to outrun: how much of the valuation rests on products that are not yet fully scaled.
Next up is Wednesday (Feb. 25), when Nvidia reports results — a major read on AI spending that has been jerking markets and sentiment around “AI-linked” names. Investors will also be watching for fresh turns in U.S. trade policy after the Supreme Court struck down many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the president threatened new levies. (Reuters)
