Tesla (TSLA) Stock Falls 22% YTD as Cathie Wood’s ARK Buys the Dip

TLDR

• Tesla stock is down 22% year-to-date and has fallen for seven consecutive weeks
• Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought ~40,000 TSLA shares Monday across three funds
• ARK’s 2029 price target for Tesla stands at $2,600 — a 640% premium to current levels
• Tesla Q1 deliveries in South Korea surged 335% year-on-year to 20,964 units, taking the top spot for the first time
• Germany registrations jumped 315% in March; Wall Street holds a consensus “Hold” rating with an average target of $393.97

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Tesla stock has been sliding for seven straight weeks, now down 22% in 2026. That’s a rough stretch, even for a stock that gained 51% over the prior 12 months.

Tesla, Inc., TSLA

The latest drop has Cathie Wood paying attention. ARK Invest purchased around 40,000 Tesla shares on Monday, spread across the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ), and ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX).

Tesla is the top holding in both ARKK and ARKQ, each at over 9% of fund assets. It’s a minor position in ARKX, where L3Harris Technologies and Rocket Lab lead.

ARK’s last Tesla purchase before this was in July 2025, when the stock was around $310. It rose about 6% the following month and finished 2025 up 45% from that entry point.

Wood’s price target for Tesla remains $2,600 by 2029 — a 640% gain from current levels. That thesis is built around AI-powered robotaxis and autonomous driving revenue.

Sales Data Tells a Different Story Abroad

While the U.S. narrative around Tesla has turned cautious, overseas numbers are holding up.

In South Korea, Tesla posted Q1 2026 deliveries of 20,964 units — a 335% year-on-year jump. That was enough to put Tesla at number one in the country for the first time, ahead of BMW at 19,368 units and Mercedes-Benz at 15,862.

Early subsidy guidelines announced in January, two months ahead of schedule, helped drive EV demand in South Korea. Rising oil prices linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict also pushed buyers toward electric vehicles. Tesla also cut prices on some Model Y and Model 3 units made in China.

Germany told a similar story. Tesla registrations rose 315% year-on-year in March to 9,252 units, according to the KBA. For the full first quarter, registrations in Germany climbed 160% to 12,829 vehicles. Overall EV registrations in Germany rose 66.2% in March to 70,663 units.

Wall Street Stays Cautious

Global Q1 deliveries came in at 358,023 units — up 6.3% year-on-year but down 14% from Q4 2025. That miss set off a wave of analyst reactions.

JPMorgan kept its Sell rating. Goldman Sachs and Truist both trimmed price targets while holding their Hold ratings.

On the other side, Wedbush’s Daniel Ives kept his Buy rating and a Street-high $600 price target, citing Tesla’s AI opportunities.

The Wall Street consensus sits at Hold — 13 Buys, 11 Holds, and 8 Sells. The average price target is $393.97, implying around 12% upside from current levels.

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