Stock Market Today, Oct. 16: Tesla Slips 2% as Roadster Reveal Fades Before Earnings

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), a global EV and energy storage manufacturer, closed at $354.72, down 2.13%. Tesla fell after its Roadster reveal, and investors turned their attention to next week's earnings. Trading volume reached 61.6M shares, coming in about 64% above its three-month average of 37.5M shares. Tesla IPO'd in 2010 and has grown 22,209% since going public.

How the markets moved today

S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,661, down 1.07%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) ended at 26,140, down 2.15%. Among electric vehicle and energy generation/storage manufacturing peers, Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) closed at $12.42, down 4.61%, and Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) closed at $3.13, down 10.57%, underscoring weaker trading across EV names.

What this means for investors

As interesting as Tesla's Roadster reveal may have been (if you haven't seen it yet, you should look it up), most analysts seemed to agree with investor Gene Munster's consensus that it was an "engineering flex" more than any type of breakthrough for the stock itself.

Whether you agree with that notion or not, the reveal did help respark SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) and Tesla merger rumors, as the Roadster was built using SpaceX thrusters, highlighting the vertical integration possible if the companies operated under the same roof.

Prediction markets saw the odds of a deal between the two companies nearly double overnight to 56%, as the M&A narrative continues to gain steam. To me, SpaceX is the more interesting stand-alone company, but a combined company with leading businesses in space operations, robotics, AI, and autonomous fleets would bring a level of optionality in next-gen industries matched by only a few peers, if any.

Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Space Exploration Technologies and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.