January 3, 2026 — 7.05am Save Bloomberg Even with multiple issues buffeting the company, investors are betting that Tesla chief executive Musk can deliver on his ambitions to make Tesla a leader in robotaxi service and get consumers to embrace humanoid robots that can perform basic tasks in homes and offices. Reflecting that optimism, the stock finished 2025 with a gain of approximately 11 per cent. The latest quarter was the first with sales of stripped-down versions of the Model Y and Model 3 that Musk unveiled in early October as part of an effort to revive sales. The new Model Y costs just under $US40,000 ($60,000) while customers can buy the cheaper Model 3 for under $US37,000. Those versions are expected to help Tesla compete with Chinese models in Europe and Asia. Advertisement For fourth-quarter earnings coming out in late January, analysts are expecting the company to post a 3 per cent drop in sales and a nearly 40 per cent drop in earnings per share, according to FactSet. Analysts expect the downward trend in sales and profits to eventually reverse itself as 2026 rolls along. Loading Investors have largely shrugged off the falling numbers, choosing to focus on Musk’s pivot to different parts of business. He has been saying that plunging car sales don’t matter as much now because the future of the company lies more with his new driverless robotaxis service, the company’s energy storage business and building robots for the home and factory. To make his task worthwhile, Tesla’s directors awarded Musk a potentially enormous new pay package that shareholders backed at the annual meeting in November. Musk scored another huge windfall two weeks ago when the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a decision that deprived him of a $55 billion pay package that Tesla doled out in 2018. Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire later this year when he sells shares of his rocket company SpaceX to public for the first time in what analysts expect would be a blockbuster initial public offering. AP