How Is Tesla's Stock Performance Compared to Other Consumer Cyclical Stocks?

With a market cap of $1.7 trillion, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) is a global leader in electric vehicles and sustainable energy solutions. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company operates through two primary segments: Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage.

Companies worth more than $200 billion are generally labeled as “mega-cap” stocks and Tesla fits this criterion perfectly. Tesla designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars, solar products, and energy storage systems to consumers, businesses, and utilities worldwide.

Despite this, shares of the electric vehicle maker have declined 11.4% from its 52-week high of $498.83. TSLA stock has increased 9.8% over the past three months, outperforming the broader State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLY) 4.1% rise over the same time frame.

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Longer term, shares of Tesla have returned 23.9% over the past 52 weeks, outpacing XLY’s 13.2% gain over the same time frame. However, the stock is down 1.7% on a YTD basis, lagging behind XLY's 1.8% rise.

Despite recent fluctuations, TSLA stock has been trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since May.

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Shares of Tesla, Inc. fell 3.6% following its Q1 2026 results on April 22 as investors reacted negatively to the company’s sharply increased spending plans and expectations for negative free cash flow for the remainder of 2026. Although Tesla reported Q1 revenue of $22.4 billion and positive free cash flow of $1.44 billion, the management raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $25 billion, highlighting a “very big capital investment phase” tied to autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.

In comparison, rival General Motors Company (GM) has outpaced TSLA stock. GM stock has climbed 76.3% over the past 52 weeks and 4.3% on a YTD basis.

Despite the stock’s outperformance relative to the Dow over the past year, analysts remain cautiously optimistic on Tesla. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 42 analysts in coverage, and as of writing, it is trading above the mean price target of $401.77.