Tesla may have announced RECORD vehicle deliveries, yet the stock… fell. And at the same time, Elon Musk became the FIRST person in history to surpass $500 billion in personal wealth! What’s going on here?
HISTORIC RECORD FOR TESLA
In Q3 2025, Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles.
That’s a new all-time record for the company and it exceeded every forecast:
FactSet expected 447,600
Tesla’s own internal forecast was 443,079
Even the optimistic projection by Troy Teslike, at 481,000, was beaten
Deliveries rose 7% year-over-year and 30% compared to Q1 2025. For perspective:
Q1 deliveries were 336,681
Q2 deliveries were 384,122
Q3: almost 500,000
Huge progress.
Production, however, lagged at 447,450 units, reducing inventory. Of the nearly 497k vehicles sold, more than 481,000 were Model 3 and Model Y, still the company’s workhorses.
And here comes the paradox: Tesla’s stock fell after the news.
Why? Because the market had already “priced in” the positive results. In today’s nervous environment, even excellent performance isn’t enough unless it’s astonishing. In Europe, sales show signs of fatigue—partly due to Musk’s controversial public image and partly because of rising competition from BYD and other EV makers gaining share.
In the U.S., however, EV demand surged, as many buyers rushed to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit, which expired at the end of September under the new Trump legislation.
ELON MUSK: FIRST TO $500 BILLION
Elon Musk is now officially the first person in history with a net worth over $500 billion.
This surge is driven by:
Tesla’s stock, up +20% year-to-date and +80% year-over-year
Explosive valuations of his other companies, xAI and SpaceX
His personal purchase of $1 billion in Tesla stock, seen as a strong vote of confidence
On top of this, Tesla approved a massive new compensation package for Musk—worth up to $1 trillion—to keep him focused on the company rather than politics, social media, or side projects.
The market responded quickly, pushing Tesla’s stock up 35.7% from the day the bonus was announced.
INVESTMENT TAKEAWAYS
Here we have a company that:
Is hitting record sales
Dominates the EV market
Has its founder personally investing and doubling down on the company’s future
All this in a world where energy, technology, and AI are the defining trends of the next decade. Tesla sits right at the crossroads: EVs, AI, and energy storage.
But for now, it remains a company deeply tied to its founder—whose polarizing persona means that what he says and does directly impacts both the stock price and sales. This explains the extreme volatility in Tesla’s share price.
Posted Using INLEO