Shares of Tesla (TSLA.O) rose on Tuesday as trading was choppy ahead of Thursday's Robotaxi Day event.
Shares of the electric car maker rose 1.5% to $244.50 on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 gained 1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%.
Tuesday's gains followed a 3.7% drop on Monday. Tesla's stock has fluctuated more than 3% in each of the past four trading sessions. It has fallen three times and risen once during that period, but despite that, before Tuesday's trading, the stock was still up about 14% over the past month.
On Thursday, Tesla is expected to unveil a physical Robotaxi; discuss business models for selling, licensing, and operating Robotaxi technology; and outline when Tesla's self-driving taxis could be on the road.
Wall Street continues to watch the event. On Monday, CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said market expectations were high and he expected a "sell" reaction after the event.
“Elon Musk has a long history of exaggerating the timelines for Tesla’s various product launches,” Nelson wrote. “We believe the Robotaxi will be no exception.”
In 2016, Musk predicted that a Tesla would drive itself across the United States in 2017. Since then, he has predicted almost every year that self-driving technology is a year away.
Nelson rates Tesla stock a hold with a price target of $240. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives rates Tesla stock a buy with a price target of $300. Ives is more positive about the potential impact of the Robotaxi event.
“Tesla is the most underrated AI company in the market, and we expect Musk and his team to unveil some disruptive autonomous technology at the event,” he wrote in a recent note.
Tesla uses AI-based computing to train its self-driving cars.
There has been plenty of coverage on Wall Street about the impact of the event on Tesla and its stock, but little consensus on how the stock will perform in the weeks and months ahead.
Some see it as a catalyst to drive the stock higher, while others think it will disappoint high expectations. Of course, the stock reaction depends on what exactly Tesla says.
Still, analysts seemed to agree that Robotaxi Day was a major event as Tesla sought to convince investors that it was more than just a car company, but an AI giant.
Investors should also keep an eye on other Tesla news, in addition to the Robotaxi activity. Recently, Tesla's vehicle program manager Daniel Ho said on LinkedIn that he has left the company to join Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) self-driving company Waymo.
Huo's profile shows that he reports directly to CEO Elon Musk. He has been with Tesla for more than 10 years. Tesla's management changes are not uncommon, but they are still noteworthy.
Tesla declined to comment.
Tesla shares are down about 2% year to date as of Tuesday trading. Slowing growth in electric vehicle sales has weighed on investor sentiment. However, the stock has risen nearly 50% since Musk tweeted on April 5 that Robotaxi Day would arrive.
Article forwarded from: Jinshi Data
