Tesla Is Jumping Today -- Is the Stock a Buy?

After sell-offs in yesterday's trading, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock is rising Wednesday. The company's share price was up 4.6% as of 2 p.m. ET amid the backdrop of a 0.3% gain for the S&P 500 and a 0.7% gain for the Nasdaq Composite. The stock had been up as much as 5.4% earlier in the session.

Tesla published its second-quarter vehicle delivery figures yesterday, and the company's valuation is climbing despite a big performance drop-off. News that the U.S. has reached a trade agreement with Vietnam is supporting bullish momentum for the stock, and a much weaker than expected June jobs report from ADP also has some investors ramping up bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting.

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With the report that it published this morning, Tesla announced that it had delivered 384,000 vehicles in this year's second quarter -- a 14% year-over-year decline. Meanwhile, the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet had called for the business to deliver 387,000 vehicles in the period.

Is Tesla stock a buy right now?

Despite some rallies connected to the company's robotaxi business and opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, Tesla still ranks as this year's worst-performing "Magnificent Seven" stock. As of this writing, the company's share price is down roughly 22% across 2025.

Even though the company has seen a substantial valuation pullback across this year's trading, Tesla is still valued at approximately 10.5 times this year's expected sales and 168 times expected earnings. While earnings headwinds are expected to moderate somewhat, the company is also still trading at approximately 111 times next year's expected earnings.

Tesla should be able to score meaningful wins in the robotaxi business, but these wins will take time to materialize -- and the core business is struggling. While Tesla still has the potential to be a winner for investors with a very long time horizon, the significance of the challenges facing the EV business suggests that investors may be able to build positions at a better entry point.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.