Tesla’s five-year stock price turns negative as S&P 500 gains

Tesla shares have lost ground over five years, falling 2% while the S&P 500 gained 61%, according to 24/7 Wall St. The 63-percentage-point gap reflects a period in which competition for electric-vehicle sales intensified and CEO Elon Musk became involved in a federal cost-cutting effort.

The November 4 report also pointed to the slowdown in Tesla’s sales growth and the slow development of businesses Musk has promoted beyond carmaking. Despite the stock’s five-year decline, the report put Tesla’s market value at $1.6 trillion.

EV sales account for most of Tesla’s revenue

More than three-quarters of Tesla’s revenue still comes from EV sales, according to 24/7 Wall St. The outlet said the faltering of the EV industry ultimately signaled an end to the company’s sales growth.

Musk has argued that Tesla is not simply a car company, describing it instead as a robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicle business. Those projects have been slow to materialize, according to the report, even as vehicles continue to generate most of the company’s revenue.

The report said Tesla’s $1.6 trillion market value was larger than the combined market capitalizations of all other publicly traded car companies worldwide. That comparison contrasts Tesla’s valuation with those of other automakers, despite the decline in its share price over the five-year period.

Rivals expanded in the US, Europe and China

The report traced early concern about Tesla’s sales to May 2021, when Ford committed $30 billion to increase its share of the US EV market. According to 24/7 Wall St., Ford’s EV investment performed poorly, but the commitment showed that established carmakers believed they needed to invest as buyers moved away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles.

General Motors and carmakers from Japan, South Korea and Europe were less financially ambitious individually than Ford, the report said. Together, however, those manufacturers captured double-digit market share in the US.

Tesla also had healthy sales in Europe, where it faced a similar competitive challenge. The region’s largest automakers followed Ford and GM into EVs, according to 24/7 Wall St. The outlet said their investments did not fare much better financially than those of the two US carmakers.

China presented a further challenge in what the report described as the world’s largest car market. Local manufacturers crowded the market, with 129 EV brands eventually operating there. The report cited Reuters as saying that only 15 were expected to survive.

Competition divided market share among the brands, while price cuts by smaller companies trying to stay in business affected the wider Chinese market, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Musk’s government role and business claims drew attention

The report identified Musk’s role at the Department of Government Efficiency as one factor behind Tesla’s share-price decline. President Donald Trump created the initiative in late 2024 to cut waste from the federal government.

Musk and Trump later clashed over government policy in mid-2025. According to 24/7 Wall St., that dispute also hurt Tesla’s share price. The report did not quantify the effect of either Musk’s government role or the disagreement on the stock.

The outlet also questioned the pace of Tesla’s projects outside vehicle manufacturing. Musk’s description of Tesla as a robotics, AI and autonomous vehicle business contrasts with the company’s continued reliance on EV sales for more than three-quarters of revenue, according to the report.