Tesla’s roughly 3.8% gain today looks driven mainly by renewed enthusiasm for its robotics/AI roadmap and supportive Wall Street/White House signals, despite weak recent EV fundamentals.

Immediate catalysts today

• Tesla rose about 3.8% (around 16.8 USD per share) as part of a broader move in large-cap “innovation” names, with Tesla listed among the top mega-cap gainers on the session.

• The advance extended a recovery trend that started after steep EV-sales-related declines in early 2025, showing investors are still willing to buy dips as long as the long‑term story (AI, autonomy, robots) remains intact.

Policy and sentiment drivers

• Over the weekend, President Donald Trump publicly praised Elon Musk and highlighted Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot and robotaxi ambitions, helping sentiment around the stock and its non‑auto businesses.

• This fits into a broader US policy push to promote robotics and advanced manufacturing, which investors see as indirectly supportive for Tesla’s AI/robotics monetization potential over the next decade.

Street views and valuation narrative

• Recent research has emphasized that, with EV sales slowing and 2026 unit forecasts cut from about 3 million to roughly 1.8 million, Tesla’s valuation is now heavily anchored in long‑term autonomy and robotics rather than near‑term car sales.

• Analysts such as Deutsche Bank still carry Buy ratings and price targets around the high‑400s USD, reinforcing a narrative that upside remains if Tesla can execute on robotaxis and unsupervised Full Self‑Driving, which helps dips get bought and supports moves like today’s.