Investors Reject Tesla’s Driverless Dreams, but Stock Value Remains High

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Investors Reject Tesla’s Driverless Dreams, but Stock Value Remains High

© jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

24/7 Wall St. Insights

Based on the price of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares, investors still believe that the company will build the cars that will be the wave of the future. Not everyone agrees.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, presented two new products at an LA event. As soon as the market opened, the stock started to sell off. The reasons were simple: Some attendees said the technology behind the products needed to be more transparent, and the production dates were far off and may have been missed altogether.

Tesla’s Cybercab and the Robovan

Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Maja Hitij / Getty Images News via Getty Images

The unveiling of Tesla’s Cybercab and Robovan.

The upcoming Tesla “Cybercab” will be available for less than $30,000. Many experts believe that today’s adoption of EVs is slow because they are too expensive. Analysts have said a price point of around $25,000 is critical to boost sales. Chinese companies, led by BYD, already have electric vehicles (EVs) priced below $25,000. However, 100% tariffs essentially block their sales in the United States.

Another essential aspect of the Cybercab is that it will be truly self-driving. Companies like Waymo and GM’s Cruise are working on similar technologies, as are several Chinese EV companies. None has created a car that requires no driver’s attention at all. Musk insists that self-driving cars will soon be safer than those controlled by humans. The Tesla Cybercab does not have a steering wheel, accelerator, or brake pad. Local and state regulations will be a part of how quickly these can be rolled out completely.

Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA Research, told the Financial Times, “He was disappointed by the lack of clarity for Tesla’s near-term product road map.” He added, “We think the event did little to change an opaque intermediate-term earnings outlook.” Investors with similar sentiments drove the share price drop immediately.

Musk also showed a new Robovan. It can carry at least 20 people and serve as a small bus or large passenger car. Musk did not give a date for its release. Production of the Cybercab will start in 2026.

Investors still believe Tesla has a bright future compared to legacy manufacturers. Tesla has a market cap of $750 billion. Ford’s is $45 billion.

Will China Take a Big Bite Out of Elon Musk’s Tesla?

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618