Capital at risk. All investments carry a varying degree of risk and it’s important you understand the nature of these. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in. Where we promote an affiliate partner that provides investment products, our promotion is limited to that of their listed shares & shares investment platform. We do not promote or encourage any other products such as contract for difference, spread betting or forex. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the share price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK. Accurate at the point of publication.

Quarterly Update, 19 October 2023

• Q3 gross revenue up 9% year-on-year to $23.4bn – slowest pace of growth in three years

• Q3 net income at $1.85bn, down 44% from the same period 2022

• Q3 gross profit $4.2bn, down 22% year-on-year

• Operating margin fell to 7.6% from 9.6% in Q2 2023

• Q3 earnings per share $0.53, down 44% year-on-year.

Tesla Inc (Tesla) designs, develops, manufactures, leases and sells fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems as well as offering services related to its products.

The model range includes the Model Y, Model 3, Model X, Model S, Cybertruck, Tesla Semi and Tesla Roadster vehicles. Tesla also installs and maintains energy systems, sells solar electricity, and offers end-to-end ‘clean’ energy products, including those for generation, storage and consumption.

Tesla markets and sells vehicles to consumers through a network of company-owned stores and showrooms. The company has manufacturing facilities in the US, Germany and China and has operations across Asia Pacific and Europe.

Tesla’s chief executive officer is Elon Musk who, in 2022, also became owner and CEO of Twitter, the microblogging platform. Mr Musk is also founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX, the rocket design and manufacturing company.

Here’s what you need to know about buying and selling Tesla shares.

Note: investing in companies comes with no guarantees, and your capital is at risk. When buying company shares, it’s possible to lose some or even all of your money.

Why own shares?

Before buying shares in a company ask yourself why you’re taking that decision. Does the company have great future prospects with a share price that could go from strength-to-strength?

Or is there takeover talk in the offing that could potentially drive up a company’s share price? Maybe the company you’ve identified is on a recovery mission and its share price is starting to recover from previous lows.

How to buy Tesla shares

There are several steps to take once you’ve satisfied yourself about the reasons for buying shares in a particular company.

1) Open an account

Whether you’re a seasoned share trader, or someone who is brand new to stock market-based investments, if you want to buy shares in Tesla, you’ll need to open an account with a regulated brokerage.

Stockbroking is a competitive market place nowadays and services for DIY investors come in a range of different guises – from online investing platforms run by some of biggest names in financial services, to nimbler investment trading apps that work off your smartphone or tablet.

Before opening an account, bear in mind the following:

• Keep your ultimate financial goals in mind
• Be prepared to ride out stock market ups and downs
• Aim to keep trading costs to a minimum
• Remember that share investing can prompt tax charges, for example, when selling part of your portfolio.

And before buying any shares ask yourself these questions:

• Should I take financial advice?
• Am I comfortable with the level of risk in question?
• What’s my investing budget?
• Can I afford to lose money?
• Do I understand the company in which I’m looking to invest?
• Am I protected if my platform provider/adviser goes out of business?

2) Know where Tesla is traded

The ticker symbol for Tesla is TSLA and the company is traded on the Nasdaq market in the US. Nasdaq’s trading hours are 2.30pm – 9pm (UK time) Monday to Friday.

You can buy US shares through most brokerage accounts. Buying shares in US dollars incurs a foreign exchange fee (typically 1% of the trade) unless you fund the purchase from a US dollar account.

Most brokerages also charge a slightly higher transaction fee for buying US, rather than UK, shares although it’s worth comparing the fees charged by different brokers if you plan to trade US shares regularly.

You will be asked to complete a W-8BEN form (valid for three years) which allows you to benefit from a reduction in withholding tax for qualifying US dividends and interest from 30% to 15%. Holding US shares also carries exposure to foreign exchange risk. If the pound strengthens against the dollar, your shares will be worth less in sterling (and vice-versa).

As with UK shares, any profits on US shares will be subject to capital gains tax (CGT), unless you hold the shares in an individual savings account (ISA), or self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

3) Do your research

To find out more about Tesla, go online and visit the company’s investor relations page.

4) Decide your investment strategy

People tend to invest in one of two ways: either with a lump sum purchase, or via smaller, steadier amounts over time.

The latter method is often referred to as a means of ‘pound cost averaging’, a stock market hack which may help you pay less per share on average over time. Rather than waiting to build up a lump sum, it means an investor’s money is being put to use in the market straightaway.

5) Place an order

Once you’re ready to buy shares in Tesla, log in to your investing account or trading app. Type in the ticker symbol TSLA and the number of shares you want to buy, or the amount of money you’re prepared to invest.

6) Review Tesla’s performance

Whether your share portfolio is crammed full of companies or holds only a handful of stocks, it’s vital you review how each component is performing on a regular basis: monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Doing this gives you the opportunity to review performance and ask if any adjustments to your holdings are required – to maintain the status quo, buy more stock, or sell existing shares.

How to sell Tesla shares

If you’re pleased with the performance of your shares and want (hopefully) to take a profit, there will come a time when you’ll want to sell your holdings. To do so, log in to your investing platform, type in the ticker symbol and select the amount that you want to sell.

Note that if you’ve made a substantial profit, you may be liable to pay CGT when you come to sell your holdings, especially if your shares were held outside of a tax-exempt wrapper such as an ISA.

The CGT tax-free allowance for the tax year 2023-24 is £6,000, a significant reduction from the £12,300 that was allowed in the previous tax year. Note that the allowance is due to be lowered again, to £3,000, in 2024-25. Find out more here about CGT, rates and allowances.

How to invest in Tesla via a fund

Investing direct in individual stocks can be a fun, fascinating and, hopefully, profitable experience. It may also qualify you for shareholder perks specific to the company in question.

Investing direct in individual companies can, however, leave you vulnerable to stock market volatility and unforeseen swings in share prices. Nowadays, even a solo tweet – let alone a full-blown geo-political conflict – can send shock waves through the stock market.

That’s why, financial experts recommend that most people invest in a diversified mix of asset classes and investment funds that hold hundreds, if not thousands, of company shares.

Being a major component of the Nasdaq index, Tesla is found in many ‘active’ and ‘passive’ (index tracker) funds incorporating a bias towards the US.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Tesla pay a dividend?

Dividends are a distribution, usually in cash, generally paid by a company to its shareholders half-yearly. Payments are usually met out of that year’s earnings. Companies aren’t obliged to pay a dividend, but may choose to do so for a number of reasons – as a gesture of a company’s support to its financial backer, for example, or as an incentive to shareholders to continue owning shares.

At present, Tesla is not anticipated to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Can I buy Tesla shares with a debit card?

Yes, in the sense that you’d need to add funds using an appointed card to an existing online investing service or trading app before making the share trade from there.

What does it cost to trade Tesla shares?

This will vary depending on the investment service/platform that an investor is using to trade.

Broadly speaking, there are three main types of fee. First is a share trading fee that investors are charged by a platform each time they buy or sell shares. Note that some platforms charge no fee for this activity, while others may charge a flat fee of typically between £6 and £12.

Second comes the platform fee which is typically levied as an annual fee charged for holding shares on a particular investing platform. Again, some providers impose no fee, others charge a flat fee, and some services charge a percentage, typically 0.25% to.0.45% per annum of the underlying portfolio.

If you buy or sell shares denominated in a foreign currency, nearly all of the investing platforms charge a foreign exchange fee. Again, this will vary amongst providers, but tends to sit in a range from 0.5% to 1.5% per transaction.