Tesla stock sinks as ‘toothless’ robotaxi disappoints

Tesla (TSLA) stock sank more than 7% Friday midday as investors signaled disappointment over the EV maker’s robotaxi debut.

Following the event on Thursday night, “We, Robot” — which aimed to cement CEO Elon Musk’s position as an AI leader — investors and analysts came away with more skepticism than excitement over Tesla’s lofty vision for a future of driverless cabs.

Jefferies (JEF) analysts called Tesla’s $30,000 robotaxi, dubbed the Cybercab, a “toothless taxi” in a note to investors Friday morning, adding that Tesla has “ambitious targets” with “little evidence of feasibility.”

“We believe TSLA potentially underappreciates the obstacles to scaling a robotaxi fleet,” they wrote.

Tesla’s new Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals and is designed to be fully autonomous, Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports. The company said it will begin unsupervised full self-driving (FSD) trials with Model 3 and Model Y test vehicles next year in Texas and California. Tesla is aiming to begin Cybercab production “before 2027,” Musk said.

Tesla’s stock drop Friday extends a two-week decline. TSLA shares fell last week after the company missed Wall Street estimates on its third-quarter deliveries, issued a recall, and discontinued a lower-priced model. The stock — which has experienced far more volatility over the past year than its Magnificent Seven peers — is down 17% from last year. Still, TSLA’s Friday price of $220 per share is far higher than lows below $140 this spring. Shares hit a 15-month low in April amid Tesla’s layoffs and price cuts.

Investors and analysts had hoped the company’s long-awaited robotaxi event would live up to the hype, but were disappointed by Musk’s lack of clarity over how the company would achieve its ambitious goals.

Raymond James (RJF) analyst Josh Beck called Tesla’s plan to commercialize its Cybercabs “vague” and “underwhelming.” Morgan Stanley (MS) analysts said the event included a “disappointing lack of detail” about updates to Tesla’s FSD technology and market strategy.

RBC Capital analyst Tom Narayan concurred, writing in a note Friday that investors believe Musk’s vision “was light of real numbers and timelines.”

“These typically come at Tesla events,” he added. “This one seemed focused on branding and marketing Tesla’s vision, rather than giving concrete numbers for us to model out.”

Additionally, Tesla did not reveal details about a lower priced vehicle as some investors had hoped. That vehicle is expected to launch in the first half of 2025, analysts noted.

To be sure, some experts on Wall Street think “We, Robot” was a success. Bank of America analysts said the robotaxi event “lived up to the hype.”

Story continues

Wedbush analyst and Tesla bull Dan Ives said in a note Friday, “We believe last night was a glimpse of the future of Tesla and next generation transportation for consumers.” He also noted the presence of Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus, which was “well ahead” of Wedbush expectations.

Musk said Optimus could be”[the] biggest product ever of any kind” in terms of commercial success, Bank of America (BAC) analysts noted, and the AI tech underlying the robot is the same as that used in Tesla’s vehicles.

“We think this speaks to the fact that at this point TSLA is more than a traditional automotive company,” Bank of America analysts said.

While noting the lack of details on Tesla’s Cybercab rollout, Wedbush’s Ives said, “We strongly disagree with the notion that last night was a disappointment as we would argue the opposite seeing Cybercab with our own eyes and the massive improvements in Optimus which we interacted with throughout the evening.”

Good news for Uber and Lyft

The overall muted reaction to Tesla’s robotaxi launch is a good sign for ride hailing companies Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT).

“Clearly building and launching a service is the longer-term direction for Tesla but the vagueness around the service (or clarity in not saying it) may reduce fears that UBER and LYFT would have to start defending share as soon as next year – which was our primary fear coming in,” RBC’s Narayan said. Uber and Lyft shares both jumped around 10% Friday.

Wall Street has mixed opinions on Tesla stock. Some 26 of Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying it, while 20 have a Hold rating and 15 advise investors to sell it. Overall, analysts see shares falling to $216.59 over the next 12 months, according to Bloomberg consensus data.

Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @LauraBratton5.

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