While the knee jerk reaction will clearly be negative on a delay of August 8th based on this Bloomberg report that just hit, we believe the timing of robotaxis, partnerships, ultimate autonomous/AI driven tech does not change at all our AI thesis. We await to hear from @elonmusk
— Dan Ives (@DivesTech) July 11, 2024
Tesla shares fell 8% on Thursday after reports emerged that the company has delayed the unveiling of its robotaxi project. The reveal, initially scheduled for August 8, has been pushed to October to allow Tesla’s teams more time to build prototypes, according to Bloomberg. The setback interrupts an 11-day rally that saw Tesla shares rise due to better-than-expected second-quarter results.
We truly live in amazing times
Tesla Delays Robotaxi Event in Blow to Musk’s Autonomy Drive #ClaimsAdjustment https://t.co/ySJZjKleC7
— Grant Williams (@ttmygh) July 11, 2024
The recent drop places Tesla’s stock back in negative territory for the year 2024, which has been challenging for the company due to disappointing sales figures and increased competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk first announced the robotaxi project in April, highlighting it as a significant step towards the company’s ambition to develop fully autonomous vehicles. However, despite Musk’s historical commitments to achieve full autonomy for Tesla cars, these goals have repeatedly fallen short.
Whether Tesla Robotaxi unveil is delayed or not delayed, trust me, in the year 2030, no one is going to care on what month the unveil was
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) July 13, 2024
Tesla delays unveiling robotaxi project
Promises dating back to 2015 projected fully autonomous driving capabilities and one million robotaxi-ready vehicles by 2020, but neither of these targets have been realized. Meanwhile, competitors such as Waymo and Cruise have made considerable strides in autonomous vehicle technology, surpassing Tesla’s progress.
Following disappointing first-quarter earnings reported in April, Musk reinforced Tesla’s long-term vision of dominating the autonomous vehicle market.
Shaving off $60B in market cap for a potential 2-month delay for an event that many analysts are not even pricing in, yesterday was a temporary discount $TSLA
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) July 12, 2024
He emphasized the significance of robotaxis for the company’s future and encouraged investors to believe in Tesla’s potential to solve autonomy. Musk noted that at Tesla, “‘unveil’ dates do not predict a near-future date for a commercial release of a new product.” He pointed to the example of Tesla’s fully electric heavy-duty truck, the Semi, which was unveiled in 2017 but did not begin deliveries until December 2022.
Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings later this month. The market and investors will be closely watching the company’s performance and any strategic updates provided during the earnings call.
