Stock Market Today, April 23: Tesla Falls After Lifting 2026 Capex Guidance for AI and Robotics

Tesla (TSLA +0.73%), which designs and manufactures electric vehicles and energy storage products, closed Thursday at $373.60, down 3.59%. The stock declined as investors reacted to Q1 2026 earnings, higher long-term capex plans for AI and robotics, and mixed analyst commentary, while watching execution on robotaxi and autonomy timelines. Trading volume reached 93.1 million shares, about 47% above its three-month average of 63.5 million shares. Tesla IPO’d in 2010 and has grown 23,397% since going public.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.80%) slipped 0.42% to 7,108, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +1.63%) fell 0.89% to 24,439. Within automobile manufacturing, industry peers Ford Motor Company closed at $12.48 (-1.19%) and General Motors finished at $78.52 (-0.61%) as investors weighed EV demand and new model competition.

What this means for investors

Tesla reported earnings yesterday afternoon that snuck past analysts’ expectations. Despite this — and Tesla’s sales growing 16% — the stock dipped today as the market fretted over the company’s plans to spend $25 billion this year on capex. While this hesitancy is reasonable — especially considering Tesla trades at 89 times cash from operations and is shifting its operations from EVs to Cybercabs, robots, and energy storage in full force — the company still offers investors immense growth optionality.

CEO Elon Musk believes its Cybercab and Semi-Truck production will start in 2026 (fool me once…) and grow “exponentially” in 2027. Meanwhile, its energy unit hit record-high margins, and its full self-driving systems may surpass human safety metrics by 2027.