Tesla stock (TSLA) is rising as investors await the company’s long-awaited robotaxi debut and Tesla’s third-quarter sales numbers.
Elon Musk’s electric car company’s stock rose nearly 2% Tuesday morning, after rising 5% in Monday trading. After months of delays, Tesla is finally scheduled to unveil its driverless taxis on October 10th. The company also plans to announce third-quarter deliveries in early October. Wall Street analysts expect EV sales to rise 6% from a year ago to about 460,000 units.
Barclays analyst Daniel Levy said in a bullish note to investors on Monday that he expects Tesla deliveries to beat consensus estimates. Levy said Tesla expects to deliver about 470,000 EVs, an 8% increase from last year. He noted that sales in China are increasing, even though domestic rival BYD (1211.HK) is significantly underperforming.
“Given the positive data points reported so far this quarter, particularly in China, we believe Tesla’s sales trajectory is well understood and investors are expecting better results.” Levy wrote on Monday.
Levy said in a separate interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday that he expects Tesla to report slightly higher profit margins in its upcoming quarterly earnings report. Still, Levy maintained an even-interest rating on Tesla stock, noting that his team is “meeting our expectations” given the rising tariffs impacting the EV market.
Tesla has faced a number of high-profile issues over the past year, from serious safety concerns and mass recalls to factory closures, job cuts and increased competition in China. Three senior Tesla executives resigned this spring. But after a dismal first-quarter earnings report, Tesla performed better than expected next year thanks to price cuts. Deliveries totaled nearly 440,000 vehicles in the second quarter, easily exceeding analysts’ expectations.
The company’s stock price completed its second significant recovery in 2024. Monday’s rise kept prices relatively flat for the year. Levy said Tesla’s Robotaxi Day is likely to further spur its upward trajectory.
Drivers guide a Tesla Model 3 sedan and a Model (AP Photo/David Zarbowski, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Tesla is betting on success in a market where other companies face hurdles. Like his views on space travel and brain chips, Mr. Musk’s promise of a world filled with self-driving cars seems a long way off. Other attempts to introduce self-driving taxis into urban transportation have had confusing and even disastrous results.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), was investigated by the federal government this spring after crashes and traffic violations, and in June the company recalled nearly 700 self-driving cars. But Waymo is back at it, recently announcing an expanded partnership with Uber to bring taxis to more cities.
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General Motors’ Cruise, which suspended service last year after an incident in which a driverless taxi hit a pedestrian and dragged it 20 feet, plans to resume service, this time with a human driver behind the wheel.
In a late March post on I don’t know.” “In the future, humans will become so superhuman that it will seem strange for people to drive cars, even when they are tired and drunk!”
Although it has been repeatedly opposed, Tesla’s Robotaxi Day on October 10 could show whether the company can accomplish its mission of changing public opinion toward the kind of future that Mr. Musk envisions.
“It will take a very long time to truly monetize the value of this FSD,” Levy told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday.
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Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
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