The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Tesla, BYD and NIO

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 11, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Tesla TSLA, BYD Co Ltd BYDDY and NIO Inc. NIO.

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Will Tesla's China Discounts Lift Q3 Sales or Hurt Margins Further?

For the first time in nearly two years, Tesla is cutting prices in China, per South China Morning Post. The move targets the inventory of its Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y— cars discounted by 5,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan respectively. The company is also sweetening the deal with an 8,000-yuan insurance subsidy per buyer. The offer expires right at the end of this month and looks like an attempt to lift third-quarter delivery figures before the books close.

While Tesla is relying on discounts to defend volume, Chinese EV companies like BYD Co Ltd and NIO Inc. are witnessing increases in their deliveries.

Tesla’s move comes against a backdrop of steadily weakening sales. Through the first seven months of 2026, Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory delivered just over 266,000 vehicles domestically, down 12.4% year on year, per CPCA, as cited in South China Morning Post. July was especially weak, with deliveries falling nearly 33% year over year, even as the plant shipped a record number of vehicles abroad. August brought a further 7.9% month-on-month decline. In short, exports have been doing the heavy lifting for the factory's overall output, masking just how soft home-market demand has become.

The contrast with domestic competitors is telling. BYD's August sales rose 17.8% year over year to 440,293 vehicles, its best month in nine months. NIO delivered 35,836 units, up 14.5% year on year.

Tesla’s discounts may boost the September-quarter deliveries, but they come at a cost. China's EV market is already fiercely competitive, and price cuts by Tesla could reignite a broader price war just as demand is softening—forcing rivals to respond and compressing margins industry-wide.

For Tesla, that margin risk is already visible. Even though total automotive revenues grew 23% year on year in the last reported quarter, operating income dropped 57%, and operating margin slipped to just 1.4%. Automotive gross margin, excluding regulatory credits, also declined sequentially to 16.3%. This mismatch implies that profits are not keeping pace with revenue growth and the gap may widen further.

So, while the September discounts could provide a modest boost to deliveries in China, the price cuts would put additional pressure on Tesla’s profitability.

The Zacks Rundown on TSLA Stock

Shares of Tesla have fallen 18% year to date, a smaller drop than NIO's 27.5% decline but a steeper one than BYD's 15%.

YTD Price Performance Comparison

From a valuation standpoint, TSLA trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 12.71, above the industry and its own five-year average. It carries a Value Score of D.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Tesla’s EPS has been revised downward over the past 60 days.

TSLA stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

Free: Instant Access to Zacks' Market-Crushing Strategies

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.

Today you can tap into those powerful strategies – and the high-potential stocks they uncover – free. No strings attached. 

Get all the details here >>

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days

Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."

Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research