Shares of Tesla (TSLA) staged a sharp rebound on Wednesday, rising roughly 2% and surging well above the psychologically important $400 level after several sessions of selling pressure.
The recovery followed a difficult stretch in which Tesla shares had fallen sharply.
The stock has been weighed down by concerns around recent vehicle price increases and disappointment that last week’s summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping failed to produce a breakthrough for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving approval in China.
The broader market also provided support on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 500 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.9% as falling oil prices and easing Treasury yields improved investor sentiment toward risk assets.
Lithuania expands Tesla’s FSD footprint in Europe
A major catalyst for Tesla shares was the company’s announcement that its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software is now rolling out in Lithuania.
The approval makes Lithuania the second European country, after the Netherlands, to allow deployment of Tesla’s supervised autonomous driving system.
The Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration confirmed it recognized certification granted by the Dutch regulator RDW.
That Dutch approval has become increasingly important because other European Union member states can choose to recognize the certification rather than conduct a full independent process.
The development represents another step forward in Tesla’s efforts to expand Full Self-Driving availability across Europe, one of the company’s key strategic goals for its autonomous driving business.
According to reports, Dutch regulator RDW spent more than 18 months testing the system on public roads and dedicated test tracks before approving it.
Other European countries are now moving in the same direction.
Belgium has already begun an authorization process in the Flanders region, where Tesla is testing one vehicle using FSD on public roads.
Meanwhile, Greece’s transport ministry said Wednesday that an upcoming bill would establish a regulatory framework similar to the Dutch model.
Investors still focused on Robotaxi scaling
Despite Wednesday’s rebound, investor attention remains heavily centered on Tesla’s broader artificial intelligence ambitions.
Much of Tesla’s valuation is increasingly tied to autonomous driving, robotaxis, and humanoid robotics rather than traditional vehicle sales alone.
Barclays reiterated its Equal Weight rating on Tesla earlier this week and said the market remains focused on “core growth initiatives,” including robotaxi scaling, Full Self-Driving expansion, and the eventual launch of Optimus V3.
Barclays analyst Dan Levy said investors are particularly focused on whether Tesla can expand fully driverless robotaxi operations without human safety monitors.
Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin before expanding into additional US cities, but the rollout has progressed more slowly than many investors expected.
That slower expansion has fueled concerns around scalability and the timeline for generating meaningful revenue from autonomous driving services.
While the latest European FSD approvals provide incremental progress for Tesla’s autonomous ambitions, investors continue to look for evidence that the company can scale its AI-driven businesses into large, profitable revenue streams.
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