Tesla Robotaxi event: Analysts weigh in on what to expect

Wall Street analysts are looking at what to expect to hear from Tesla ( TSLA ) at the company's “We, Robot” event Thursday night and the potential implications for the company.

While most don't expect a fully functional robotaxi to be deployed right now, CEO Elon Musk and Tesla can paint a picture of autonomous self-driving the company envisions for the next five or 10 years down the road. subject

Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, who named Tesla his “top pick” in the autos space, nevertheless advised clients to “manage expectations well” for the event.

What will likely be on display is a demonstration of the latest iteration of FSD [full self-driving] A demonstration of the software and a fully autonomous 'CyberCab' on a closed or semi-closed course, Jonas wrote last month. But in a recent note last week, Jonas said investors could expect to hear more about how those cybercabs, or robotaxis, will be deployed.

“It is our expectation that Tesla will offer a 'dual' approach to autonomous ridesharing: (1) fully autonomous app-based CyberCab and (2) a 'supervised' autonomous/FSD rideshare service. We think the latter may get the most attention or at least have the biggest room to surprise investors in the near term,” Jonas said.

While the CyberCab — envisioned as a vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals — might be a natural fit for a robotaxi, Jonas believes it's Tesla's pre-existing fleet on the road that, when combined with FSD and Tesla's upcoming rideshare mobility app, will allow Tesla EV owners will allow those cars to be placed on Tesla's rideshare service The real game changer will be unlocking the potential of those cars, he said.

Jonas and Morgan Stanley have an Overweight rating and a $310 price target on Tesla headlines.

Other analysts believe the CyberCab unveiling could actually be the model or basis for a new Tesla passenger car, the long-promised “next-gen” vehicle.

“For Robotaxis Day on 10th October, we are expecting an unveiling of the 'CyberCab' at the venue, [and] Some kind of robotaxi demo … Also, Tesla should unveil new low-cost cars scheduled for SOP [start of production] next year (“Model 2” or cheaper/smaller Model 3 variant),” Deutsche Bank’s Edison U wrote in a note.

The U is referring to Tesla's sub-$30K next-gen EV that will arrive later this year, opening up new buyers to the Tesla universe.

Yu, who has a buy rating and a price target of $295 on Tesla, advises clients to be “strategically cautious” in the event, as the bar is high for street shake-ups and the potential for “news selling”. Feedback is possible.

CFRA's Garrett Nelson also believes that a cheaper Tesla EV will come alongside the CyberCab. While he thinks Tesla plans to build a robotaxi fleet using CyberCab and other Tesla EVs powered by FSD software, he's skeptical about the realistic timeline for the venture.

“We think so [robotaxi fleet] Still several years away and numerous technical hurdles, safety tests and regulatory approvals still stand in the way,” Nelson wrote last week.

Nelson believes Tesla “remains a long way from achieving a level of autonomy” that would include the ability to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor road conditions for the entire trip.

Nelson, who has a Hold rating on Tesla and a $240 price target, believes the key question for Tesla's bull case is whether investors will continue to see the company on near- and medium-term issues, such as soft EV sales. To focus more on long-term opportunities such as autonomous driving and robotaxi deployment.

Finally, in a note published late last week, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes Thursday's event will put Tesla's long-term vision on full display.

Ives and other analysts believe that Tesla will showcase the CyberCab, its next-generation platform, and FSD and AI updates, with Ives predicting that Musk will outline the “near-term pain points” seen by investors for self-driving and how the company will do so. overcome them

Ives added that Tesla, for which Wedbush has an outperform rating and a $300 price target, is undergoing another transformation not seen since the company's volume Model 3 and Y releases, with the next phase focused on AI, FSD and supercomputing. Focused He believes that this phase alone represents $1 trillion in value.

“We strongly believe that Tesla will be more of a robotics/AI play in the future than just an EV vendor,” Ives said. “We believe this is an important time for Tesla as the company prepares to reveal its year of robotaxi R&D behind the scenes, while Musk & Co. lay out the company's vision for the future.”

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him Twitter And Instagram.

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