Investors not convinced The Robotaxi causes Tesla shares to plummet
In recent months, Tesla shares have recovered from price losses in anticipation of a major Robotaxi announcement. But there were few details at the event. Investors were not impressed.
14.10.2024, 09:10
dpa
Tesla CEO Elon Musk disappointed the stock market with his Robotaxi presentation. The shares lost around eight percent in early US trading. During the night, Musk presented an electric car called "Cybercab", which is designed to transport people without a driver. He announced that the car is expected to go into production in 2026 and cost less than 30,000 dollars to buy. There were also dancing robots and Musk demonstrated a self-driving bus for 20 people - but he gave no indication of when it might hit the road.
In contrast, shares in the ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft received a boost after the Tesla presentation, rising by around ten percent in early US trading.
Analyst Tony Sacconaghi from the financial firm Bernstein Research criticized that there were not enough details at the Tesla event that investors had hoped for. Instead, Musk merely reaffirmed a vision that he has been talking about for almost a decade, Sacconaghi said on the US business channel CNBC. The show on the grounds of the Hollywood studio Warner Bros. provided too little concrete information on how Tesla intends to realize the vision. All in all, the event was simply not impressive, said Sacconaghi.
He also pointed out that Google's sister company Waymo has been operating robotaxis in San Francisco and several other US cities for years. Tesla is years behind. No indications were seen at the event that Musk's company could take the lead in the business.
Musk had said a few months ago that investors who did not believe Tesla could create autonomous cars should not hold shares in the electric car manufacturer.
