TLDR
- Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 3,000 TSLA shares for $1.35 million to cover taxes from stock options
- The sale was made at $450 per share, near last week’s highs; Taneja still holds ~130,000 shares
- TSLA fell 1.1% to $417.43 in premarket Monday, after a 4.7% drop on Friday
- Tesla has held above $400 for several days, driven by expectations of Full Self Driving approval in China
- Insiders have sold $30.9 million worth of TSLA stock over the past three months, with no reported purchases
Tesla (TSLA) stock slipped in premarket trading Monday after CFO Vaibhav Taneja disclosed the sale of 3,000 shares, raising $1.35 million. The stock was trading at $417.43, down 1.1%, before the opening bell.
The CFO’s sale was made to cover taxes owed on stock options — a routine type of insider transaction. Taneja sold at $450 per share, near where TSLA was trading at its recent highs. He still holds around 130,000 shares, including indirect holdings.
Broader market pressure added to the weakness. S&P 500 futures were down 0.4% and Dow futures fell 0.7%, as rising odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike weighed on sentiment.
Tesla’s stock had already taken a hit Friday, dropping 4.7% in a wide market selloff. That erased a brief run above $450 and left the stock down 1.4% for the week.
Despite the recent turbulence, TSLA has held above $400 consistently for the first time since early March. The run higher has been tied largely to expectations that Tesla will receive regulatory approval to offer its Full Self Driving software in China.
FSD Subscriptions and China Expectations
Tesla’s FSD system handles most driving tasks most of the time. In the US, subscribers pay $99 per month, and Tesla has built up 1.3 million paying users.
Approval in China would open a major new market. That prospect has been a key driver of the recent rally, though no formal approval has been announced.
Coming into Monday, TSLA was down about 6% year-to-date but up 21% over the past 12 months.
The stock is trading at a steep premium by most traditional metrics. According to GuruFocus, Tesla’s GF Value is estimated at $286.58, putting the current price roughly 48% above that level.
Tesla’s price-to-earnings ratio on a trailing 12-month basis stands at 388.95x. That compares to a five-year median P/E of 107.37x, showing just how stretched current valuations are relative to historical norms.
Insider Activity Raises Eyebrows
The broader insider picture adds some context. Over the past three months, Tesla insiders have sold a combined $30.9 million worth of stock, with no purchases reported.
Taneja’s sale is part of that trend, though his transaction was structured specifically for tax purposes rather than a discretionary market call.
Tesla’s GF Score sits at 82 out of 100. The company scores well on growth (9/10) and financial strength (8/10), but its valuation score is just 3/10.
The market cap stands at around $1.59 trillion. Tesla delivered nearly 1.64 million vehicles globally in 2025.
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