Robotaxi Day to kick off ‘new era of growth’ for Tesla, Wedbush says
Investing.com — Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is set to host its much-anticipated “We, Robot” Robotaxi event next Thursday, October 10th, at the Warner Bros. movie studio in Los Angeles, after the market closes.
Analysts from Wedbush believe Robotaxi Day could potentially be a pivotal moment for Tesla and Elon Musk, signaling a “new era of growth ahead” focused on autonomous driving, Full Self-Driving (FSD), and AI.
“We continue to believe Tesla is the most undervalued AI name in the market and we expect Musk & Co. to unveil some ‘game-changing’ autonomous technology at this event next week,” analysts said in a Monday note.
They expect the event to provide detailed updates on Tesla’s rumored Robotaxi, possibly named the “Cybercab,” as well as developments in its Next-Gen platform and advancements in FSD and AI.
Wedbush also anticipates Tesla will reveal its strategy for rolling out Robotaxi in phases over the next year. Key projections on the scaling of the Cybercab, cost-per-mile estimates, the launch of a Tesla ride-share app, and a Generation 1 demonstration of its breakthrough urban transportation technology are expected as well.
“With very few industry events as widely anticipated as this, we believe Musk will address the near-term pain points seen by investors and the company’s long-term vision as Tesla goes through its second transformation not seen since the Model 3/Y production overhaul,” analysts noted.
They “firmly believe” that Tesla remains a leader in robotics and AI rather than just an electric vehicle (EV) maker.
Tesla’s recent release of FSD version 12.5 in September brought significant updates, and FSD version 13 is expected before the end of the year, with promises of a 6x improvement in miles-per-intervention, up from 3x currently in v12.5.
Furthermore, Tesla’s proprietary neural network remains a focal point. Analysts said this update is expected to introduce features like autonomous parking and reversing.
Updates on the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus, are also anticipated, with the company targeting external sales of the robots by 2026.
Wedbush believes this marks a “pivotal time for Tesla” as it unveils the results of years of research and development on its Robotaxi project, while Musk and his team lay out the company’s vision for the future.
“We continue to believe AI/FSD represents a $1 trillion of value alone for Tesla over the coming years…next week it’s time for Musk to have a watershed unveiling event to kick this AI era off at Tesla,” the firm concluded.
It reiterated an Outperform rating on Tesla stock and a price target of $300.