If You Invested $1,000 In Tesla Stock One Year Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Investors who have owned stocks in the last year have generally experienced some decent gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY total return over the past 12 months is 16.7%. But there is no question some big-name stocks performed better than others along the way.

Tesla’s Bumpy Ride: One company that has been a bad investment in the last year has been electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc TSLA.

Tesla and its controversial CEO Elon Musk have gained a cult following of investors and supporters in recent years. Despite sales and earnings that significantly lag legacy automakers and a declining global EV market share, Tesla's market capitalization exploded in recent years to above $1 trillion, making Musk the world's wealthiest person.

Fortunately for Tesla investors, the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t negatively impact the auto industry nearly as much as experts had initially feared. Tesla reported record sales and vehicle deliveries throughout 2020 and 2021, but it also had its fair share of disappointments as well.

Musk has been selling “Full Self-Driving" (FSD) software to customers since 2016 and promised Tesla would complete a fully autonomous drive across the U.S. by the end of 2017. As of early 2022, Tesla has said its FSD beta is still just a Level 2 driver assistance program, and the company has yet to complete its autonomous cross-country trip. Tesla has also failed to deliver on Musk's promise to have 1 million Tesla robotaxis on the road by the end of 2020.

Tesla has further delayed the launch of its Cybertruck and other vehicle models until at least 2023 and said it is not working on its previously announced $25,000 budget car. Instead, Musk said the company's "Tesla Bot" humanoid robot is its "most important product" under development.

Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Tesla's Autopilot system after a series of fatal crashes.

At the beginning of 2020, Tesla shares were trading at around $425. When March kicked off, the stock was up to $710 despite news of the coronavirus spreading in China, prompting concerns about a U.S. pandemic.

Tesla ultimately bottomed at $350.50 during the pandemic-driven March sell-off. Fortunately for Tesla investors, the dip did not last long.

By June, Tesla shares were back at new all-time highs above $1,000, with the stock as high as $2,318.49 in August prior to a five-to-one stock split.

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Tesla In 2021, 2022 and Beyond: The stock eventually made it back up to new split-adjusted highs of $900.40 in February 2021 and broke out to new highs above $1,000 in October 2021. Tesla shares hit $1,243.49 in November 2021, but have since pulled all the way back to $810.36.

Tesla investors who bought one year ago and held on have generated a disappointing return on their investment. In fact, $1,000 in Tesla stock bought on January 28, 2021, would be worth about $960 today.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting Tesla’s stock to rebound in the next 12 months. The average price target among the 35 analysts covering the stock is $1,049, suggesting a 29.2% upside from current levels.