Tesla Stock Strains as Barclays Lifts Its Target to $450 Despite a 56% Profit Drop

Tesla stock closed 0.8% lower at $404.22 on October 29, 2026, and was indicated around $401 in overnight trading, even as Barclays lifted its Tesla price target to $450. The tension in those two facts is the whole Tesla investment story right now: the autonomy and robotics future that analysts are pricing in, versus the car business margins that are actually paying for it today.

The margin numbers are stark. Tesla’s third-quarter revenue edged down to $28.05 billion, while operating profit plunged nearly 56% to $718 million and the operating margin slipped to about 2.6%, reflecting heavier spending on AI, robotics and new products. Paid Full Self-Driving adoption is accelerating — active subscriptions are up 67% year over year, and more than 75% of new North American deliveries include paid FSD, according to the analysis — but subscription growth has not yet offset the spending surge.

The week’s legal news cut the other way. On October 29, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed a lawsuit by 88 Tesla owners seeking refunds for Full Self-Driving, ruling that the company had not promised fully autonomous vehicles and had already provided some of the functions in the package. That removes an immediate refund overhang in South Korea, though it does not decide similar disputes elsewhere, and it does not prove Level 5 autonomy. Barclays’ higher target is therefore a bet on the future monetisation of that autonomy — not a verdict on today’s 2.6% margin.