TSLA Over the Past Year
Tesla (TSLA) shares trade within 1% of where they sat a year ago, after swinging much higher and dropping more than 10% below current levels. It has been another up-and-down year for holders.
Core EV Business
In the United States, Tesla (TSLA) stays a dominant player, holding about 50% of all US EV sales - roughly six or seven times its closest rival. It is a global business with decent market share in Europe and China, and factories on three continents.
The overall business is doing well. The US market is down this year, mainly because the US federal tax credit for EVs was cut. So Tesla keeps strong market share, but the market itself shrank.
Energy Storage Arm
The energy business still drives top-line revenue growth and now makes up about 10% of revenue. Margins have come down, and the unit faces more competition. The hope was that margins in energy storage would hold up, but they fell. That drop is part of why the stock re-rated lower.
Autonomous Driving, Robotaxi, and Optimus
Tesla (TSLA) carries a premium valuation and moves sharply, largely because of the "other stuff": autonomous driving, robotics, and Optimus, its humanoid robot. These projects carry huge upside if they work.
At the end of 2025, the stock rose sharply, with a lot of near-term hope priced in around the robotaxi (the fully self-driving car) and Optimus. That hope has since dragged the stock down, because those efforts, while still moving forward, will likely take multiple years to pay off.
The area making real progress is Tesla's autonomous driving software, now built in and turned on for more than 50% of Tesla's EV sales. Drivers still can't take their hands off the wheel and nap. But feedback says trips can be mapped out with little driver involvement to run the software.
A caution: friends who use these features make them sound closer to full self-driving than they are, and they can seem distracted while driving.
Options Trade Idea on TSLA
Tesla (TSLA) is volatile, yet implied volatility is very low. Its IV percentile rank sits near 5%, one of the lowest in the last three years, with implied volatility over the past 52 weeks near its lowest levels.
For traders who think the roughly 10% rally this month might stall, one setup gives downside exposure over about five weeks: a September unbalanced (broken-wing) put butterfly. Buy one 350 put (in the money, higher negative delta), sell two 325 puts (the target strike), and buy one 315 put.
The package costs about an $8 debit, trading closer to 870-880 because the stock has dropped from session highs, down over 2%. Paying the $8 debit risks $800 per spread. Max profit is about $1,700, hit at or near the 325 strike. If the stock falls below 315, profit nearly doubles. Break-even is 342, near where the stock trades now, so it doesn't take a big move to get below that break-even. Selling the two puts offsets cost versus just buying a put or a put vertical.
