Tesla Robotaxi event speculation leaves Wedbush unchanged in thesis


Despite reports of Tesla’s Robotaxi Unveiling event being postponed by two months, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes the timing of the showcase is less important than the content of it.

Yesterday, after Bloomberg reported Tesla was pushing the Robotaxi event back two months to October from August, the stock dropped by eight percent over the course of the day.

The delay has yet to be confirmed by Tesla.

While investors might have been discouraged by the delay, the development is not a huge influence on how many should view the stock, according to Ives.

Tesla Robotaxi unveiling event pushed back from August: report

While Tesla and Musk were tight-lipped on the development with the Earnings Call less than a week away, Ives said in a note to investors that there is not much to worry about in the grand scheme of things:

“While the knee-jerk reaction will clearly be negative on a delay of August 8th based on this report that just hit, we believe the timing of robotaxis, partnerships, and the ultimate autonomous and AI-driven technology does not change at all for our bullish Tesla thesis.”

Ives actually believes that the delay could mean the event is more robust as Tesla could be more prepared and deliver an even better product than it would have in August:

“To some extent, we believe this 2-month delay could just make the actual Robotaxi event and prototypes even better, and more eye-popping for Tesla as Musk and the team know this unlocks the key to the long-term future of the Tesla story, and investors want MORE details…not less at this historic event.”

There truly is no point in rushing the event. Putting out a date for August in April was perhaps not the best move, but Tesla likely thought it would be ready in time. Even still, there is no reason to keep things intact for August 8 if the prototypes are truly not ready or as quality as the automaker wants.

We reported earlier this week that Tesla was still seemingly working to develop some data for the Robotaxi by using mules of its current vehicles, which were fitted with exterior cameras in a variety of new places.

Tesla Model 3 mule spotted with interesting cameras ahead of Robotaxi unveil

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla Robotaxi event speculation leaves Wedbush unchanged in thesis





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Tesla gets price target upgrade from Citi on EV and AI catalysts


Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has finished positive in 11 of the last 12 trading days on Wall Street, giving Citi a reason to upgrade the stock’s price target based on “catalysts” in both electric vehicle and artificial intelligence sentiments.

Despite a sizeable dropoff on the market yesterday due to the reported delay of the Robotaxi unveiling event, Citi is boosting its price target from $182 to $274, and maintaining a Neutral rating on shares.

Citi analysts are more convinced of a solid near-term narrative on Tesla stock. Tesla shares have enjoyed a tremendous run-up over the past month, gaining 40 percent in just 30 trading days.

This is mainly due to the earnings beat, a strong showing from the company’s energy division, and future prospects in the EV and AI fronts.

The boost in stock price, from Citi’s perspective, won’t come from “core EV fundamentals.” Instead, Tesla will need to roll out significant developments on the automotive and AI side:

“The Q2 delivery beat was also encouraging, which prompts increased estimates and supports Citi’s underlying call for improving EV sentiment this summer. However, the firm believes core EV fundamentals alone are unlikely to support significantly further upside from here in Tesla shares absent new product and AI catalysts.”

Tesla should have plenty of things in the pipeline, especially considering the prospect of its next-gen platform which both the Robotaxi and another new vehicle will be built upon. There could be plenty of other vehicles in the pipeline in the future, including a van.

Tesla is also in talks with a major automaker regarding Full Self-Driving licensing, which could further solidify the company’s place as a major player in the race to autonomy.

Xpeng CEO bullish on autonomy in Tesla FSD (Supervised) review

There still needs to be execution on Tesla’s end, which will come in time. However, the big question remains regarding the Robotaxi unveiling event, which is now in question for August following reports yesterday.

Tesla is up over 3 percent at 11:30 a.m. today on the East Coast.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla gets price target upgrade from Citi on EV and AI catalysts





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Tesla granted extension to prepare for suit over inflated insurance premiums


Tesla has been granted an extension to prepare for a lawsuit filed by a customer on behalf of drivers in eleven U.S. states claiming the company overcharged for insurance.

Last year, a Tesla customer sued the automaker, stating the company utilized “false” crash warnings to inflate insurance premiums instead of collecting actual driving behavior.

Tesla Insurance uses real-time driving metrics measured by a Safety Score to determine premiums. The factors it uses to determine your safety score are:

  • Forward Collision Warnings per 1,000 non-Autopilot Miles
  • Hard Braking
  • Aggressive Turning
  • Unsafe Following
  • Excessive Speeding
  • Late-Night Driving
  • Forced Autopilot Disengagement
  • Unbuckled Driving

However, the lawsuit claims that Tesla used a series of “false” forward collision warnings to inflate insurance premiums. The suit also said the automaker violated California’s unfair competition law.

In court earlier this week, a lawyer for Tesla said it was taking “a lot longer” than expected to gather information to defend against the case because of the number of states involved. They also said the departure of a Tesla employee, who was working with its outside attorneys, made things more complicated.

Tesla revises late-night driving and its affect on Safety Score

Min Kang, the lawyer representing Tesla, stated the departure “complicated things.” Tesla tried twice last year to have this lawsuit thrown out, but judges declined the request on both occasions.

The states involved in the case are Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Virginia, according to Reuters.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla granted extension to prepare for suit over inflated insurance premiums





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