Tesla (TSLA) Stock Drops 6% After Spending Hike Despite Earnings Beat

TLDR

• DZ Bank upgraded Tesla stock to Hold from Sell with a $385 price target on Friday.
• Tesla stock is down 6.1% for the week and 17% year to date, falling in 11 of the past 13 weeks.
• Q1 2026 earnings beat expectations but capital spending guidance was raised to $25 billion from $20 billion for AI.
• Elon Musk confirmed Cybercab production has started, with robotaxi expansion planned for multiple U.S. cities in H1 2026.
• Tesla said material revenue from its robotaxi segment is unlikely before 2027.

It’s been a rough week for Tesla. The stock fell 3.6% on Thursday after the company’s Q1 2026 earnings report, and heading into Friday, it sat 6.1% down for the week.

Tesla, Inc., TSLA

The one bright spot Friday morning was a DZ Bank upgrade from Sell to Hold, with a price target of $385. That’s a vote of mild confidence, but it barely moves the needle — Tesla’s average analyst price target now sits at $406, down about $7 since the earnings report.

Despite beating earnings expectations, the market wasn’t impressed. Tesla raised its capital spending guidance to $25 billion for the year, up from a previous $20 billion forecast. The money is going into AI infrastructure, including autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots — neither of which is generating meaningful revenue yet.

Tesla shares were trading around $376 early Friday, up less than 1% on the day.

Cybercab Production Kicks Off

The bigger headline of the week may be from Elon Musk himself. He posted on X that Tesla has started producing the Cybercab, its long-anticipated robotaxi.

The Cybercab is a two-seat, two-door EV with no steering wheel or pedals. That design means it needs regulatory sign-off before it can operate at scale in the U.S., something Tesla has not yet secured.

Tesla has been expanding its robotaxi operations gradually. After launching in Austin last year, it added Dallas and Houston this month. It plans to expand further to Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas in the first half of 2026.

Despite the production news, Tesla stock barely reacted. The stock edged up less than 1% in premarket trading before settling into its Friday pattern.

Q1 2026 By the Numbers

Tesla reported Q1 2026 revenue of $22.39 billion. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $477 million. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.41, and free cash flow was $1.44 billion.

Vehicle deliveries came in at 358,023 units for the quarter. Capital expenditure hit $2.49 billion for the period alone.

U.S. all-electric car sales broadly fell 27% year over year in Q1, following the September expiration of the federal $7,500 EV purchase tax credit.

Tesla’s stock has dropped in 11 of the past 13 weeks, losing around 16% over that span. It’s down about 17% year to date.

The analyst picture is mixed. Only 44% of analysts covering Tesla rate it a Buy, below the S&P 500 average of 55-60%. And 13% rate it a Sell, nearly double the index average of about 7%.

Musk has previously said the Cybercab will be priced below existing Tesla models. No pricing has been announced.

The post Tesla (TSLA) Stock Drops 6% After Spending Hike Despite Earnings Beat appeared first on CoinCentral.