By Al Root

Tesla stock is down early Wednesday. A trip to Argentina didn't help.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker were down 0.3% in premarket trading at $404.66, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.1%.

The move came despite Argentina's energy company, YPF, and Tesla signing a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of a fast-charger network. (Tesla operates the largest network of fast chargers in the U.S.)

"The partnership tries to leverage on YPF's leading fuel marketing operation in Argentina, with 55% of stations, the largest network in the country and the only with national scale," Citi analyst Andres Cardona wrote on Tuesday.

EV penetration is relatively low in Argentina, partly due to a lack of charging infrastructure. Development could help kick-start the market, but any benefit to Tesla would likely be measured in tens of thousands of cars annually, not hundreds of thousands.

EV sales have taken a back seat at Tesla lately. Investors have been more concerned with the company's AI efforts, including AI-trained robo-taxis and robots.

Tesla recently began producing the purpose-built robo-taxi, called Cybercab. It's a bold bet by Tesla. Cybercab doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals.

Tesla investors hope to see more Cybercabs in more cities by the end of the year. Tesla launched a robo-taxi service in Austin, Texas, about a year ago using Model Y vehicles. The service has expanded to four cities, but there are still only a few dozen vehicles in the Tesla robo-taxi network.

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

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June 17, 2026 07:03 ET (11:03 GMT)

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