Worried About Tesla's 7% Slump Post Solid Q2 Deliveries? Grab These ETFs

Electric vehicle (“EV”) giant Tesla TSLA has delivered a record-breaking 480,126 vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, crushing Wall Street estimates of around 406,000 and marking a 25% year-over-year improvement. Yet, instead of celebrating, investors sent the stock down 7.5% on July 2, its worst single-day drop in nearly a year. 

The decline highlights a critical market reality — investors remain deeply anxious over the company’s compressed automotive profit margins and high-pricing discounts utilized to secure those delivery numbers.

This sudden dip might tempt cautious investors to run away from Tesla. However, the company's diverse exposure to automotive, energy storage, robotaxis, humanoid robots, and infrastructure licensing gives it access to a combined addressable market of roughly $3.9 trillion by 2035, reinforcing its appeal as a long-term AI and robotics play, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Rajat Gupta.

Against this backdrop, a wiser strategy may be to pivot toward exchange-traded funds (ETFs). By allocating capital into ETFs that bundle Tesla with other industry giants, investors can still tap into the explosive potential of its burgeoning humanoid robotics segment without bearing the brunt of a single-stock crash.

Before identifying these ETFs, it's important to understand why Tesla retains strong long-term potential despite its recent slump, and why we advocate the relative safety of a diversified fund.

Tesla's Growth Prospects Beyond Just Cars

The stellar delivery figure comes as a much-needed breather for Tesla's EV segment, which had been facing a downturn due to intense competition from Chinese automakers like BYD and a consumer backlash against Elon Musk. In fact, last year TSLA saw a decline in its delivery numbers in most quarters, except the third quarter. 

In addition to poor delivery figures, challenges such as the loss of a U.S. federal tax credit and rising competition have weighed on the company’s quarterly performance in the recent past.

However, the latest delivery figures show structural resilience of its vehicle business, a trend we witnessed in the first quarter as well. 

Beyond cars, Tesla’s true long-term upside lies in its shift toward artificial intelligence (AI) and its humanoid robot, Optimus. CEO Elon Musk has heavily emphasized that the vast majority of Tesla's long-term enterprise value, nearly 80%, will stem from the robotics sector. 

To this end, it is imperative to mention that as Tesla is converting its Model S/X production lines in Fremont to build Optimus robots, analysts at Counterpoint believe the automaker’s experience in scaling EV production could help it reach 100,000 Optimus units annually much faster than its early car programs, unlocking billions in potential revenue stream over the long run. 

In addition, Tesla’s Energy Generation and Storage business remains a key diversification lever, led by Megapack and Powerwall, with the company’s energy storage deployments being 8.8 gigawatt-hour in the first quarter of 2026.

The Case in Favor of Diversification Via ETFs

Despite the long-term growth opportunities that TSLA has to offer, many investors remain highly skeptical, the primary reason being the EV giant’s sky-high valuation. 

With a forward 12-month Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of nearly 173, the company is trading at almost 11 times the average of its peer group. This premium prices in the promise of robotics. However, many analysts have expressed severe concern over the actual timeline of the humanoid business, with reports indicating that the engineering timeline for Optimus faces monumental production friction.

Given the uncertainties of such execution risks, missed production targets, as well as fierce competition in the robotics space from established players like Boston Dynamics, gaining exposure to ETFs is an intelligent insulation strategy. Funds that feature Tesla among their top holdings offer robust exposure to any upside fueled by an Optimus breakthrough. They will shield you from unprecedented single-stock price shocks by balancing the portfolio with other highly profitable industry giants.

ETFs to Consider

Considering the aforementioned discussion, investors looking for significant Tesla exposure while enjoying the fruits of gains from other industry leaders via diversification may consider the following ETFs for their portfolio:

The Nightview Fund NITE

This fund, with net assets worth $31.8 million, seeks long-term capital appreciation, with a goal of outperforming the S&P 500 Total Return Index over a rolling five-year period. It typically holds 15-25 securities that trade on U.S. exchanges. TSLA (with 13.8% weightage), NVIDIA NVDA (8.6%), and Amazon AMZN (8.1%) hold the first three positions in this fund. 

NITE has soared 17.6% over the past year. The fund charges 125 basis points (bps) in fees. 

Direxion Daily Magnificent 7 Bull 2X ETF QQQU

This fund, with net asset value (NAV) of $53.61, seeks daily investment results equal to 200% of the performance of the seven largest Nasdaq-listed companies. NVDA (15.53%), Apple (15.32%), and Alphabet (15.8%) hold the first three positions in this fund. TSLA holds the sixth spot in this fund, with 12.44% weightage. 

QQQU has rallied 18.1% over the past year. The fund charges 98 bps as fees. 

ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF ARKQ

This fund, with net assets worth $2.4 million, offers exposure to stocks of autonomous technology and robotics companies. TSLA (10.86%), Advanced Micro Devices (6.93%), and Teradyne (6.81%) hold the first three positions in this fund. 

ARKQ surged 44.1% over the past year. The fund charges 75 bps as fees. 

iShares Texas Equity ETF TEXN

This fund, with net assets worth $16.5 million, offers exposure to 211 companies headquartered in the state of Texas. TSLA (10.84%), Exxon Mobil (9.79%), and Caterpillar Inc. (7.78%) hold the first three positions in this fund.  

TEXN has soared 23.3% over the past year. The fund charges 20 bps as fees.

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

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