Tesla shares are rising after Elon Musk's words. Important tests for the company have started
The impulse for the market was Musk's entry on website X, in which he stated that “without people in the car” tests are underway. This is an important stage because so far, in the robotaxi pilot in Austin (Texas), there was a human in the passenger seat in the vehicles to supervise the operation of the system.
According to market and media reports in Austin, footage of the Model Y driving autonomously with no one inside appeared. This was supposed to be preceded by a public confirmation from Musk.
Why investors reacted positively
Tesla has been building a narrative for years that hers future value depends largely on robotaxi's autonomy and services (as well as projects in the field of robotics). Reuters points out that although the company's valuation (approx. USD 1.53 trillion) is strongly based on optimism around self-driving, Tesla still generates most of its revenues and profits from the sale of electric cars.
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The market apparently took the new tests as a signal of acceleration in the most valued part of Tesla's history by investors.
Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein estimated that the information about driving without a human in the passenger seat is consistent with the management's previous announcements about test progress — and the market is cheering on this progress, pushing the price higher.
However, an important question remains in the background. How quickly will Tesla move from testing to regular service without human oversight — and how will regulators handle it? The company has repeatedly talked about robotaxi plans, but progress has been hampered by legal and technical constraints.
At the same time, the competition does not stand still. Waymo (an Alphabet group company) is today the leader of the robotaxi market in the USA. It already has over 2.5 thousand. commercial robotaxi in large cities.
In recent days, the media have also reported on the scale of demand. That's about 450 thousand. paid trips per week (based on information disclosed in the investor letter reported by TechCrunch).
For Tesla, the tests in Austin without people in the car are not only a milestone, but also a response to the pressure of comparisons with Waymo. Investors assume that the company will intensify tests before the planned introduction of Cybercab – a project that, according to market narratives, is to become the foundation of Tesla's robotaxi in the coming years.
Tesla shares have gained 18% since the beginning of the year. profit.
