The latest Market Talks covering the Auto and Transport sector. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
1518 GMT - Move over, Tesla. There's a new largest electric-vehicle company in the world. Chinese carmaker BYD, which doesn't sell vehicles in the U.S., said late Thursday that it sold 2.26 million battery electric vehicles last year. Hours later, on Friday, Tesla said it sold 1.64 million vehicles in 2025. Despite reporting annual vehicle delivery declines for the second year in a row, Wedbush analysts noted that Tesla's drop in sales wasn't as bad as some on Wall Street had feared. And they noted that EV sales are becoming less important to Tesla, as the company works to pivot its business toward robotics and autonomous vehicles. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1417 GMT - Tesla is working to pivot its business toward robotics and autonomous vehicles, with products such as its Optimus humanoid robot and steering-wheel free Cybercab under development. While electric-vehicles currently account for most of the company's revenue, that might not be the case for much longer. Wedbush analysts say in a research note that they expect Tesla's market capitalization to jump to as much as $3 trillion by the end of 2026, as Cybercap production is expected to ramp up this spring thanks in part to easing federal frameworks. "We estimate the AI and autonomous opportunity is worth at least $1 trillion alone for Tesla," they write. "We believe Tesla will own 70% of the global autonomous market over the next decade as no other company in the world can match the scale and scope of Tesla coupled with its broadening AI footprint." (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1356 GMT - Tesla's sales dropped 16% for the fourth quarter compared with a year prior. While the tally came in slightly below the company's consensus delivery estimate, Wedbush analysts say in a research note the figure was "much better" than some of the numbers that had been whispered on Wall Street. "This will be viewed as better than feared deliveries and a step in the right direction for the Tesla story heading into 2026," they write. Currently, the electric-vehicle maker is navigating a more difficult demand environment thanks to the end of the EV tax credit in the U.S. Europe, meanwhile, remains a headwind to deliveries, the analysts say. Shares rise 0.9%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1107 GMT - Tesla shares climb 2.3% premarket--recouping some of the past week's losses--before the company announces what analysts expect to be a sharp fall in car sales. The automaker is due to disclose fourth quarter delivery figures later Friday. Market consensus compiled and released by the company show analysts expect around 1.6 million deliveries for 2025, down around 8% from the near-1.8 million the company delivered in 2024. Chinese competitor BYD released figures overnight showing that its sales growth slowed significantly in 2025, though market consensus expects Tesla's figures to come in below those of BYD. Tesla shares fell 7.35% in the week to the last close.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0938 GMT - Geely Automobile Holdings is well on track for solid sales performance in 2026, according to Citi analysts in a research note. Geely's overall export volume in 2026 is likely to increase by 50% on year to 630,000 units, the analysts say. As both volume and sales mix improve on quarter in 4Q, Citi also expects quarterly gross profit margin to improve as well by 0.6-1.5 percentage points, sequentially. Citi maintains a buy rating on the stock with a target price of HK$25.00. Shares last closed at HK$18.20. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 02, 2026 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)
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