Tesla Shares Rise After Flying Roadster Demo as Analysts Debate Its Value

what happened

Tesla, Inc. shares climbed nearly 3% in overnight trading after CEO Elon Musk unveiled the long-awaited next-generation Roadster. In short autonomous demonstrations, the car briefly flipped over and flew on cold-gas thrusters, drawing a wide range of reactions from enthusiastic investors to skeptics. Stocktwits reported that the stock fell more than 1% to $362.44 on Thursday, extending its weekly decline to 5%.

Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster called the event an “engineering flex” that highlighted Musk's wish to bring Tesla and SpaceX together. The Future Fund's Gary Black warned that the market could be disappointed by overhype, and argued that a stock-for-stock deal under the TSLA–SPCX structure could erode any premium paid for Tesla.

Tesla's reservation amounts start at $50,000 for the Performance version and reach $250,000 for Thrust, with no amount displayed for Rocket. The company stresses that a reservation does not amount to a purchase, and it cannot guarantee delivery. Musk pointed to 2028 for production and acknowledged the car may not be a safety-optimized vehicle.

why it matters

For investors, the key issues are timing and conditions rather than the demos themselves: production is targeted for 2028, and legality depends on each jurisdiction. According to Stocktwits, Tesla shares are down 19% year-to-date and SPCX is down 8%, so market reaction to the project remains mixed.

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