The Dow Jones index rose after surprise economic data. Tesla stock rallied on new plans to launch its robotaxi service.

Tesla's valuation gains today follow a bigger sell-off in yesterday's trading that was spurred by disappointing second-quarter results and comments from management suggesting that performance headwinds could continue in the near term. The company's share price has seen some big swings in 2025, and is down roughly 21% year to date with today's pop.

Tesla's market cap fell below $1 trillion, but it still reflects investors' assumptions of enormous future growth.

US stocks climbed on Wednesday after the US struck a trade deal with Japan, lifting hopes for further tariff pacts as Wall Street prepared for Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) earnings after the bell.

Investors held onto hopes that the U.S. and Japan’s trade agreement could lead to a tariff breakthrough with other countries, and pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh record highs.

US stock market today saw mixed action as the Dow Jones dropped while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq inched higher, driven by strong Alphabet earnings and cautious outlook from Tesla. Alphabet jumped over 3% after boosting its AI investment,

Tesla has normally been a good investment. While it hasn't always outperformed the market, the automotive stock has generated returns of around 1,700% over the past decade, while the S&P is up around 200% over that time frame. Tesla's good years have more than outweighed the bad ones during that stretch.

Tesla is facing stiffer competition globally from electric vehicle players, especially low-cost competitors from China.

Tesla's share price closed Thursday's session following the announcement of its June quarter results 8.20% lower at $305.30. Following the sharp selloff yesterday, Tesla's market capitalisation also declined $984.