NEW YORK — Tesla shares held their ground to end the week, with $TSLA closing near $313 in Friday's session on the Nasdaq as the stock steadied after a turbulent post-earnings stretch. With U.S. markets closed for the weekend, that Friday, July 31 close is the most recent completed print for Tesla — NASDAQ: TSLA.
The relative calm is notable given where the week began. After Tesla's second-quarter results earlier in July triggered one of its sharpest single-day declines in years, the stock spent the back half of the month clawing back stability rather than sliding further. By Friday's close, $TSLA had settled into the low-$310s, a level it has defended repeatedly in recent sessions.
The Why: Catalysts Steady the Tape
Several company-specific developments helped the stock hold firm. Chief among them was fresh clarity on Tesla's robot ambitions, after AI chief Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the company is targeting 10 million Optimus units a year at Gigafactory Texas — a reminder of the long-term optionality investors are being asked to price in.
A regulatory tailwind added support. The Trump administration's NHTSA rolled out a package of reforms designed to speed autonomous-vehicle deployment, streamlining exemptions and moving toward a single national standard. For a company betting heavily on robotaxis, a friendlier federal framework is a direct positive. Musk also moved quickly to knock down a Wall Street Journal report about a potential sale of Tesla's China business, calling it "fake news," which helped quiet a rumor that had briefly rattled sentiment.
