Tesla stock climbs on videos hinting possible new car launch
Tesla shares rose in premarket trading after it posted teasers online that some speculated could hint at the release of long-awaited mass market car model.
The electric vehicle giant posted two videos on Sunday that that appeared to be a car component, ending with the number “10/7,” suggesting Tuesday’s date. Another video , also posted on Sunday, shows the headlights of a car, with the rest of the vehicle obscured in darkness.
The teasers have led to suggestions among company watchers that it could be about to launch a more affordable mass market model, which investors have long touted as the key component in boosting its flagging sales.
However, chief executive Elon Musk has also been promising a next-generation Roadster vehicle. In September, he wrote on X that “the new Roadster is something special beyond a car.”
Shares in the EV maker rose 3.5% in premarket trading. The stock was still up about 2.5% after markets opened. It comes after the shares slumped last week, when Tesla posted a record number of quarterly car sales that experts said it will be unlikely to match going forward after federal tax credits for EVs expired.
It delivered 497,099 vehicles in the third quarter, up about 7% year-over-year and comfortably ahead of Wall Street forecasts. However, much of the surge was tied to a last-minute consumer rush before the Sept. 30 expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
Tesla leaned hard into the deadline, urging buyers to “act now” before incentives vanished. That boost means the fourth quarter could look leaner — and analysts warn Tesla’s growth engine is running against heavy competition from Chinese EV makers and subsidy cliffs at home.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Tesla is teasing something big as a flurry of X posts has fans bracing for what looks like the launch of a more affordable model Y.”
“An entry-level model Y should help keep volumes humming as tax credits roll off — but the price tag will be the real tell, showing how far Tesla has pushed cost savings and how much new demand it can unlock,” he added.
Tesla has seen an ongoing sales slump in Europe, and faces heavy competition from China, where companies like BYD are expanding aggressively with lower cost alternatives.
A new launch would also come at a critical time for Musk, who faces potential boardroom unrest at Tesla’s annual meeting next month. A coalition of state treasurers, unions, and institutional investors is urging shareholders to reject a proposed $1 trillion pay package for Musk and vote against key board members on Nov. 6.
The group argues that Tesla’s performance targets are vague, its oversight is too thin, and the board is too closely tied to Musk’s interests. The group also opposes reelecting key board members.