Tesla stock dropped on Wednesday as investors pondered its artificial-intelligence future, to be powered by robo-taxis and the company’s humanoid robot,Optimus.
Shares lost 3.8%, closing at $406.01, while the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%.
One thing that might be impacting shares was a Congressional hearing on autonomous vehicles held on Wednesday. Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas), chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, opened the proceedings by pointing out that the industry needs a federal standard for self-driving cars to ensure that the potentially life-saving technology is rolled out responsibly.
That isn’t bad news. A regulatory framework is important for Tesla and Alphabet’s Waymo. Both companies testified on Wednesday.
Beyond the hearing, there wasn’t any other news that might move Tesla stock, no changes to analyst price targets or ratings. But Tesla is a tech stock, Future Fund cofounder Gary Black pointed out to Barron’s on Wednesday. Nvidia shares dropped 3.4% on Wednesday.
An illustration of Black’s point, a poll on X asked investors which Tesla product they were most excited about this year. Tesla’s Optimus robot won in a landslide, beating out the Cybercab, semi-trailer truck, and stationary energy storage.
Tesla has a devoted following on X, which is controlled by Elon Musk. By early Wednesday, more than 16,000 votes were tallied.
“We’re going to take the Model S and X production space in our Fremont factory and convert that into an Optimus factory,” said Musk on Tesla’s Jan. 28 earnings conference call. “With the long-term goal of having one million units a year of Optimus robots in the current S/X space in Fremont.”
Production should begin this year, and Tesla plans to unveil the third generation of its robot in a “few months,” according to Musk.
Tesla stock has been stuck since the earnings report, down about 2% heading into Wednesday trading. The report didn’t seem to surprise anyone, but the results generated one downgrade from Ben Rose at Battleroad Research, who cited higher capital spending on AI projects. Tesla plans to spend $20 billion on new plants and equipment in 2026, up from less than $9 billion in 2025. Still, the average analyst price target for Tesla stock rose after earnings by about $4, or less than 1%.
Everyone, it seems, is waiting for the new products, including Optimus.