• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens

2

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

3

As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says almost no one is being hired—except in sales

1

As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens

2

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

3

As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says almost no one is being hired—except in sales

Tesla Stock Quietly Regained From Its SolarCity Drop Despite Autopilot Backlash

By
Katie Fehrenbacher
Katie Fehrenbacher
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Katie Fehrenbacher
Katie Fehrenbacher
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 15, 2016, 3:53 PM ET
Photograph by Bloomberg via Getty Images

While Tesla has had a tough few weeks, marked by a fatal accident involving its Autopilot and a missed sales goal, the company’s stock has quietly regained a major drop after surprising investors last month with the news that it planned to buy sister solar company SolarCity.

The resurgence could indicate that investors are slowly becoming more comfortable with the $2.86 billion deal to buy the solar installer. It also could suggest that Tesla’s hard summer hasn’t yet done irreparable damage to Tesla’s brand or Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s goodwill with investors.

Three weeks ago, the electric car maker suddenly announced that it planned to buy SolarCity (SCTY) and create a company that would make and sell solar panels to generate energy, batteries to store energy, and cars to use battery-stored energy for transportation. A combined company using the Tesla (TSLA) brand would be able to cut costs, and sell all this energy tech under one roof, explained Musk to many a confused shareholder.

While Musk called the deal a “no-brainer,” and “blindingly obvious,” the market had another reaction.

Within hours, Tesla’s shares had plummeted in after hour trading by almost 10%, from $220.68 before the news hit on Tuesday morning, to $199.47 by the next Wednesday morning. By the following Monday, Tesla’s shares had dropped even more to a low of $187.87, a close to 15% drop from its share price before the deal was announced.

For more on Tesla and Autopilot, watch:

Investors had a variety of concerns about the deal, most of them financial in nature. SolarCity’s major $3.25 billion in debt was one issue, as well as its upcoming debt payments at the end of 2017. Musk’s 21% ownership and 22% ownership in Tesla and SolarCity, respectively—as well as that the companies’ boards are stocked with Musk’s friends and family—were also reason for concern.

The stock crash of course slashed billions of dollars off of Tesla’s market share. Immediately after the deal came to light, Tesla’s valuation lost significantly more than the $2.86 billion valuation of SolarCity. That loss was a major talking point from many analysts for why the deal didn’t make financial sense.

However, three weeks after the deal, Tesla’s shares have slowly and quietly regained all of that initial loss. On Friday afternoon, Tesla shares are trading at $220.07, slightly down from opening at $222.52 on Friday morning.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

That regain was despite news a few days later that there had been a fatal accident involving a Tesla car with Autopilot engaged and that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had opened a preliminary evaluation into Autopilot’s performance during the crash.

At the same time, Tesla also revealed on the fourth of July that it had missed its car shipment targets for the second quarter in a row and had to lower its 2016 year car shipment guidance slightly from a previous range of 80,000 to 90,000 down to 79,180 for the year. While the miss wasn’t all that much, it’s an unsettling trend for a company that recently decided to accelerate its goal to make 500,000 electric cars per year by 2018, two years earlier than it previously had planned.

Regardless of these two major issues, Tesla shares continued to climb back up. While they could easily fall again at any moment, it seems like investors are at least relaxing a bit from the initial shock and still seem to have some confidence in Musk’s sweeping and audacious vision of Tesla.

About the Author
By Katie Fehrenbacher
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

Reverse Health App Review (2026): Our Honest Thoughts
HealthWorkouts
Reverse Health App Review (2026): Our Honest Thoughts
By Emily PharesMay 29, 2026
1 hour ago
Green Chef Review (2026): Opinions from Testers and Experts
Healthmeal delivery
Green Chef Review (2026): Opinions from Testers and Experts
By Christina SnyderMay 29, 2026
2 hours ago
Best certificates of deposit (CDs) for May 2026
Personal FinanceCertificates of Deposit (CDs)
Best certificates of deposit (CDs) for May 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganMay 29, 2026
2 hours ago
Dan Rogers speaking on stage.
AIAsana
Asana was battered by the AI boom. Now it’s betting its future on humans and agents working together.
By Beatrice NolanMay 29, 2026
3 hours ago
Russia warns war costs are ravaging its finances while Ukrainian ‘drone overmatch’ sends Putin’s forces reeling in new phase of combat
PoliticsRussia
Russia warns war costs are ravaging its finances while Ukrainian ‘drone overmatch’ sends Putin’s forces reeling in new phase of combat
By Jason MaMay 29, 2026
4 hours ago
A Union Pacific freight train in Hutto, Texas.
PoliticsRailroads
Trump floated the idea of a 15% government stake in a massive railroad merger
By Jordan Blum and Alyson ShontellMay 29, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens
Magazine
As CEO of the $96 billion Sam’s Club, Latriece Watkins is testing her mettle at the warehouse retailer that produced CEOs for Walmart, Target, and Walgreens
By Emma HinchliffeMay 27, 2026
3 days ago
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Success
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
8 days ago
As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says almost no one is being hired—except in sales
Success
As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says almost no one is being hired—except in sales
By Emma BurleighMay 28, 2026
1 day ago
The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
Environment
The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
By Dorany Pineda, Brittany Peterson and The Associated PressMay 27, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 28, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 28, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 28, 2026
1 day ago
Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it
Banking
Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it
By Nick LichtenbergMay 27, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.