TSLA ~+4–5% pre-mkt: Roadster finally shown with SpaceX thrusters, Barclays floats a Tesla–SpaceX merger before December

[LondonNewsTrader]

Tesla is indicated around +4–5% pre-market (roughly $379–380) after Thursday's -1.3% close. Two things are driving it.

What happened:
- Last night Tesla showed the long-delayed second-generation Roadster at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas test site. The demo used cold-gas thrusters built with SpaceX: the car jumped, turned in the air and hopped over parked vehicles. Tesla is calling it "short-burst flight" and claims 0–60 mph in 0.81 seconds.
- Musk says production starts in 2028. No price yet. Deposits were first taken in 2017, and every delivery date since then has been missed.
- Barclays (Dan Levy) said this week that a Tesla–SpaceX merger could be announced by late October or early November, early enough to go to a vote at Tesla's annual meeting (no later than 6 Dec). They see SpaceX as the more likely buyer in an all-stock deal. Nothing has been announced.
- JPMorgan stayed Neutral with a $415 PT and said the Roadster's effect on sales and profits isn't clear.

Why it matters for scalpers: the Roadster won't move revenue for years, so this is mostly a story-and-sentiment gap a few days before Q3 results on 21 Oct. Merger headlines can come at any moment, and SPCX is trading in sympathy pre-market too. I'd watch whether TSLA holds the pre-market low after the first 15 minutes. If it fades back into Thursday's range, that tells you the gap was mostly retail chasing. On opex Friday, also watch for pinning around the big round strikes.

Sources: [Investing.com on the Roadster reveal](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-ma ... 28-4952962) | [Axios on Barclays' Tesla–SpaceX view](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/15/tesla- ... r-barclays) | [TipRanks pre-market note](https://www.tipranks.com/news/why-is-te ... october-16)

Are you trading the gap itself, or waiting until earnings next week? And does merger talk change how you size TSLA intraday?