Al Root

Tesla stock was slipping in early trading Friday as it hoped to avoid another negative week.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker were off 0.1% at $408.16, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.

The move came after Victor Nechita, Tesla's Cybercab vehicle program manager, announced his departure from the company on LinkedIn.

"Leading the team through the development of Cybercab has been a humbling experience, watching so many dedicated individuals develop a product that has pushed the boundaries of efficiency, safety, and affordability," wrote Nechita.

Pushing the boundaries of safety, for Nechita, likely means making cars safer. Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment about the post or departure.

Cybercab is Tesla's purpose-built robo-taxi designed to give the EV maker a cost and technology advantage in the race to expand self-driving cabs across the U.S. The first Cybercab recently rolled off the assembly line.

Tesla launched its robo-taxi service, using Model Y vehicles, in Austin, Texas, in June. It plans to be operating in nine cities in the first half of 2026. Alphabet's Waymo operates a robo-taxi network in 10 cities.

Robo-taxi expansion is critical to Tesla stock in 2026 as the company tries to convince investors its "physical AI" applications, such as robo-taxis and robots, will lead to a new era of earnings growth for the car maker.

Tesla stock trades for more than 200 times its estimated 2026 earnings, making it roughly 10 times more expensive than the average stock in the S&P 500.

Coming into Friday trading, Tesla stock was down almost 1% for the week. Shares have fallen three of the past four weeks and are down about 5% since the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results in late January.

Investors seem to be waiting for something to happen. Robo-taxi expansion could be one of those things.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2026 07:26 ET (12:26 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.