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Summary
Tesla (TSLA) closed at $373.71 on October 20, 2026, up 1.54%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.02%.
No report reviewed for this article named a Tesla-specific cause for the session gain; the merger news came after the close.
After the bell, Elon Musk said Tesla and SpaceX have formed special committees to explore a merger, with no terms agreed.
Tesla is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Wednesday, October 21.
Gotrade News - In Tesla stock news, shares of Tesla (TSLA) closed at $373.71 on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, up $5.65 or 1.54% in the regular US session, while the Nasdaq Composite finished nearly flat. No report reviewed for this article tied the in-session gain to a Tesla-specific cause; the merger headline came after the close, when Elon Musk said on SpaceX's earnings call that Tesla and SpaceX have formed special committees to explore a combination.
TSLA Trading Data
Data
Value
Closing price
$373.71
Change
+$5.65 (+1.54%)
Previous close
$368.06
Open
$370.28
Day range
$363.64 to $377.59
Volume
31.7 million shares
30-day average volume
35.3 million shares
52-week range
$297.38 to $498.83
Market cap
$1.48 trillion
Regular-session close on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 4:00 p.m. New York time. Stock prices: Yahoo Finance, cross-checked against the closing price on Nasdaq.com. Indices, the 10-year Treasury yield and oil (Brent front-month futures): Yahoo Finance daily closes for the same date.
Tesla opened above Monday's close, slipped below that level at its session low and recovered to finish $10.07 above the low, in the upper part of its day range. Volume ran 10.18% below the average, so the advance came on lighter than usual trading.
The 1.54% gain put Tesla 1.56 percentage points ahead of the Nasdaq Composite, which slipped 0.02% to 26,424.82. The S&P 500 rose 0.28% to 7,712.57, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.02% to 52,495.88. Several large technology peers fell: Nvidia (NVDA) lost 0.29%, Apple (AAPL) dropped 1.00% and Microsoft (MSFT) slipped 0.31%.
In rates and commodities on Tuesday, the US 10-year Treasury yield eased 1.9 basis points to 5.12%, and front-month Brent crude futures settled at $108.79 a barrel. Even after Tuesday's gain, Tesla closed 25.08% below its 52-week high and 25.67% above its 52-week low.
None of the reports reviewed for this article named a Tesla-specific cause for the regular-session gain, which left the stock ahead of both the flat Nasdaq and its fallen technology peers. The session sat between two scheduled reports: SpaceX was due to post third-quarter results after Tuesday's close, with Tesla following on Wednesday, as TIKR, via Yahoo Finance, reported that morning. The same report said Barclays noted last week that a deal could come before Tesla's December 3 annual meeting, while neither company nor Musk had committed to one.
After the bell, Musk said the boards of both companies have formed special committees of independent directors, set up at shareholders' request, to review a possible merger, according to TechCrunch. Musk said he cannot take part in the committees' discussions because he is a conflicted party, and that the committees have not reached agreement on the terms of any transaction. "At the end of the day, the shareholders have to be supportive of this," he said.
The call came alongside SpaceX's first profit as a public company: net income of $4.4 billion on revenue of $14.6 billion for the quarter ended September 30, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
TSLA Stock Analysis: Supporting Factors and Risks
Supporting Factors
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles against production of 464,391 in the third quarter and deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage products, according to the company's own third-quarter release filed with the SEC.
In Musk's view, there is "a lot of merit to combining the companies"; he named AI software, robotics and Terafab, the joint Tesla and SpaceX chip manufacturing project, as areas for cooperation, per TechCrunch.
Risks
Musk said a merger should not be assumed to be a certainty, and noted that at Tesla a deal would need approval from a majority of all shareholders, not just those who vote, according to TechCrunch.
Analysts expect Tesla to earn about 43 cents a share in the third quarter, down from 50 cents a year earlier, on about $27.88 billion in revenue, according to TIKR, via Yahoo Finance.
Tesla is scheduled to publish its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with a results webcast at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, according to the company's release.
This article is for education and information only and is not investment advice. Investment decisions are yours to make after your own research.
Gotrade is the trading name of Gotrade Securities Inc., which is registered with and supervised by the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research (DYOR) before investing.
M. Alfathan Rahman is a content writer with over 3 years of experience developing digital content strategies across various industries, including fintech. He has experience producing content for tax-related websites and financial education platforms. His focus areas include data research, and crafting financial articles that are informative, accurate, and accessible to investors of all experience levels.
Hendrie Saputra holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Business Risk & Finance, along with professional experience in finance, marketing, and project management. He is experienced in analyzing market data and developing research-driven business strategies.
