Tesla is on the cusp of a brand new period in its historical past, in keeping with bullish tech investor Dan Ives.
As Tesla prepares to launch the early phases of its robotaxi providing in Austin this weekend, the carmaker will make good on its long-held ambitions to enter the ride-hailing enterprise.
Ives, whose Wedbush Securities is usually bullish on the tech sector, welcomed the robotaxi launch. “We view this autonomous chapter as one of the necessary for Musk and Tesla in its historical past as an organization,” he wrote in an analyst word launched Friday.
The concept Tesla’s self-driving expertise would allow it to have a fleet of robotaxis is central to the funding thesis for the corporate. Its chief government, Elon Musk, has lengthy outlined his imaginative and prescient of thousands and thousands of self-driving Teslas shuttling round paying clients as the subsequent section of the corporate’s future. Musk has mentioned the corporate’s goal is to permit Tesla homeowners to make their automobiles a part of its robotaxi fleet after they aren’t utilizing their automobiles.
“So, type of like Airbnb, the place you’ll be able to type of add or subtract your own home or your visitor room,” Musk mentioned in January.
The perfect-case situation of the robotaxi rollout might basically double Tesla’s market cap by the top of 2026, Ives mentioned. He predicted that Tesla’s market cap would attain $2 trillion by means of subsequent yr. Tesla’s inventory has had a poor yr in 2025 up to now, declining 15.9% yr so far. The corporate additionally reported disappointing gross sales outcomes earlier this yr. Tesla shareholders discovered themselves having to cope with forces far outdoors their management, akin to a souring relationship between the U.S. and China, its two greatest markets, and Musk’s involvement in politics and the Trump administration, which attracted important scrutiny.
Tesla didn’t reply to a request for remark.
After the check in Austin, which is able to begin in a geofenced location with about 25 automobiles, future expansions will likely be made simpler by a positive regulatory atmosphere.
“We absolutely count on below a Trump White Home these key initiatives will now get fast-tracked because the federal regulatory spiderweb that Musk & Co. have encountered over the previous few years round autonomous clears considerably,” Ives mentioned.
The thrill of Tesla’s most bullish traders, nonetheless, delay some others. Earlier this month, funding agency Baird downgraded Tesla’s inventory from “purchase” to “impartial” as a result of it noticed the speed at which the robotaxi program would develop as “a bit too optimistic.” Baird additionally highlighted the general public tiff between Musk and Trump as elevating uncertainty surrounding Tesla’s future. Argus Analysis cited the falling-out as the primary purpose for its personal downgrade, which additionally got here this month. Analysts at Argus feared Tesla’s inventory was buying and selling on “non-fundamental occasions,” that means traders had been shopping for and promoting the inventory for causes that weren’t associated to its financials.
“Wanting forward, we’re involved that the disagreement between President Trump and Elon Musk, together with the expiration of EV credit, might additional weaken demand for brand new Teslas,” wrote Argus analyst Invoice Selesky.
Ives, nonetheless, noticed previous the spat. “The BFF/frenemy scenario with Musk and Trump has created a cleaning soap opera on this entrance, however finally Trump desires the U.S. to remain forward of China on this AI arms race, and autonomous is a key think about who wins AI with Tesla enjoying a serious function on robotaxis,” he mentioned. “We count on over the approaching months an easing of the federal framework for autonomous with extra energy going to the federal regulators, with states having much less authority on the autonomous guidelines.”
Tesla’s robotaxi wouldn’t be the primary autonomous automobile authorized to be used within the U.S. Alphabet-owned Waymo is at the moment obtainable in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. This week, Waymo introduced it had utilized for a allow to conduct a check for its autonomous automobiles in New York. Tech large Amazon additionally has an autonomous-vehicle initiative known as Zoox that’s slated to launch in Las Vegas later this yr.
