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Tesla poised to disrupt the entire transportation industry, not just auto

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The following post was originally published on EVANNEX

With Tesla’s first quarter earnings call coming on Wednesday, it’s critical to maintain some perspective. There’s one prescient Wall Street analyst who has a history of predicting Tesla’s future while providing some much-needed perspective. Morgan Stanley Auto and Mobility Analyst Adam Jonas was a Tesla [NASDAQ: TSLA] bull before there was anything you could call a herd. Way back in 2013, when TSLA stock first started soaring, and the company announced that it would pay back its DOE loan several years early, Jonas called the company “our new top pick in US autos.”

Jonas hasn’t always been sure about Tesla though. In 2014, the stock dipped and Jonas waxed more skeptical. In early 2015, with Model X in development and construction beginning on the Gigafactory, Jonas wrote that Tesla has just pushed the “insane button” (in a good way, presumably). “Seems Tesla is preparing to be a much larger company than we have forecast.” A few months later, after Elon Musk evaded a question about the possibility of a Tesla ride-sharing service, Jonas predicted the coming of the Tesla Network, a year before it was formally announced, and speculated that the potential profits could cause the stock price to double (it hasn’t yet – TSLA was around 230 at the time).

In a recent interview (video starts at 17 minutes, 11 seconds, see below) with Business Insider’s Matthew DeBord, Jonas talks about Tesla’s “insane” market capitalization, how other automakers see the upstart company, and Tesla’s future place in the transportation realm.

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No, TSLA’s meteoric rise isn’t a hallucination or a case of mass insanity. After all, market disruption isn’t exactly a new thing. “We saw it with Cornelius Vanderbilt and the railroads,” says Jonas. “We saw it with Thomas Edison and the electric utility grid. There were times when people thought men like these were crazy. Henry Ford’s bankers were pretty furious at the risk he was taking with the moving assembly line. But they did it. And once in a while, these things pay off. Elon Musk is in that genre of capitalist/scientist/storyteller.”

What do the men (and one woman) in the corner offices feel about Tesla and Musk? Scorn, respect, fear? “When we engage with auto companies around the world, they admit that that car that [Tesla has] developed is a good car – it’s not a fluke,” says Jonas. “The industry has a reputation of being arrogant. ‘Our cars are the best!’ Even these types of companies say, ‘we’re glad that Tesla is around in many ways.’” The mood includes “more respect than fear, but some concern.”

How much in the way of future sales are baked into TSLA’s sky-high stock price? A lot. To justify its new status as one of the world’s largest automakers by market cap (see chart below), Tesla would have to reach “something approaching a BMW type of scale of a couple million units a year at some point…an order of magnitude higher than what they’ve been doing… and to be making money doing that.”

However, the future isn’t all about the volume of auto sales. Tesla envisions an entire new transportation ecosystem, one that incorporates vehicle autonomy, ride-sharing and distributed renewable energy. “The sooner the market can start to view Tesla as something other than just selling machines for people to own privately and operate in some automated form themselves… the more the events of the next few years are going to make sense,” says Jonas. “We see Tesla as disrupting transportation, not just the automotive industry.”

 

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Investor's Corner

Tesla tailwinds could drive momentum-filled finish to 2025: analyst

Tesla is heading toward some momentum to finish out the year, one Wall Street firm believes.

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Credit: @heydave7/X

Tesla has some tailwinds that could drive it toward a momentum-filled finish to the year, one Wall Street analyst is predicting.

The tailwinds are joined by some minor risks that have impacted the broader electric vehicle market, but overall, this firm believes Tesla has many catalysts moving forward.

Emmanuel Rosner of Wolfe Research believes that Tesla has plenty of things that could drive the stock upward as we approach the end of the year. With Q3 well underway, Tesla has about five months of catalysts to rely on to erase the roughly 18 percent drop in stock price it has so far this year.

At first glance, it is easy to see the things that would have investors bullish on Tesla for the rest of 2025 and even beyond. Initially, the Robotaxi launch and expansion, which spread to Northern California last night, provide potentially huge tailwinds for the company moving forward.

Tesla expands Robotaxi operation to California’s Bay Area

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Along with that, and slightly related, are the advancements in Full Self-Driving that the company has made over the past few months.

This includes the potential launch of the FSD suite in regions like Europe and Australia, where the company believes it will make some progress on regulatory approval in the coming months.

Finally, Wolfe says the company’s Optimus project, which is expected to enter scale production sometime next year, is the third catalyst for Tesla moving forward.

With these three projects in motion, Tesla truly can begin to work on rebounding from a rough 2025 on the market.

Rosner writes:

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“This name trades more around the narrative than the numbers. And net-net, we tactically see an improving narrative from here. Tesla has several catalysts coming up w/r/t FSD and Robotaxi, including an expansion of their AV service into several new U.S. markets (San Francisco, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, etc.). The company plans to unlock hands-free/eyes-off autonomy for FSD owners in select U.S. locations by YE25. Supervised FSD in China and Europe is expected to launch over the next ~12 months. And, Optimus is expected to enter scale production in 2026.”

Tesla is currently trading around $310 at around 3:20 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla Robotaxi execution should lead to valuation ‘far exceeding current levels’: analyst

RBC Capital bumped its price target on Tesla stock slightly from $319 to $325.

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Credit: @TerrapinTerpene/X

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform is the primary focus for the automaker currently, and based on what has been outlined by the company as goals for the project, one firm is saying that the company’s valuation should “far exceed even current levels.”

The Robotaxi is a self-driving ride-hailing service that Tesla plans to implement in current and future vehicle builds. CEO Elon Musk and other executives have said that “the vast majority of the Tesla fleet that we’ve made is capable of being a Robotaxi,” thanks to its development of Over-the-Air software updates that increase the capability of the vehicle with a simple download.

Currently, the Robotaxi platform is only active in a portion of Austin, Texas, but Tesla is expanding to other markets, including California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. California will be the next market to open its doors to the Tesla Robotaxi platform.

But the name of the game is execution, and that’s what Tesla is aiming for in a timely fashion. If it can come through on all of its current goals, its valuation could explode, and one firm is holding steady on that narrative as Tesla continues to work toward expanding Robotaxi.

On Tuesday, RBC Capital analysts bumped their price target on Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) to $325 from $319, primarily due to the Robotaxi expansion and its success:

“Should Tesla be successful on all of its goals, its valuation could far exceed even current levels. The Austin Robotaxi launch has been better than many feared, and the company is looking to expand in more cities.”

There are some risks to Tesla’s narrative, but they fall outside the scope of what the company can control. In relation to Robotaxi, regulatory hurdles remain. Some regions may be slower than others to give Tesla the proper licensing to operate in their jurisdiction. This could slow the pace of Robotaxi expansion, bringing some overhang to the story.

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Additionally, Tesla is fending off narratives of slowing demand, and the White House’s decision to revoke the $7,500 EV tax credit from consumers could temper sales past Q3.

Nevertheless, Robotaxi is where Tesla’s true value seems to be focused. Successfully launching a driverless ride-sharing platform is where the company is putting all of its eggs, and revolutionizing passenger travel is where the focus lies.

RBC Capital’s note continued:

“Regulatory hurdles remain, however. Further, we expect the end of IRA credits and high levels of used EV inventory to pressure the auto business for the next several quarters.”

The slight price target bump puts RBC Capital’s expectations near where the stock is trading, as it is currently priced at around $320 at 9:54 a.m. on the East Coast.

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Elon Musk shares details on Tesla AI6 production deal with Samsung

Tesla is already laying the groundwork for the ramp of its next-generation products.

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tesla-supercomputer-pre-dojo
Credit: Tim Zaman/Twitter

Elon Musk has provided some details about Tesla’s AI6 production deal with South Korean tech giant Samsung. As per Musk, Samsung’s upcoming Texas fabrication facility will be dedicated to the production of Tesla’s AI6 chip.

Musk’s update suggests that Tesla is already laying the groundwork for the ramp of its next-generation products like the Cybercab and Optimus.

Samsung AI6 production reports

On Sunday, Bloomberg News claimed that Samsung will be producing semiconductors for Tesla in a $16.5 billion deal. As per the report, Samsung is currently producing Tesla’s AI4 chip, and the deal will help the South Korean tech giant gain some ground back from competitors in the semiconductor market.

Elon Musk confirmed the news on X, stating that the $16.5 billion is actually just the bare minimum. As per Musk, the deal with Samsung will likely be “much more than that.” And in a later comment, Musk clarified that the actual output of Samsung’s Tesla AI6 plant will “likely be several times higher” than what has been reported.

Musk shared a critical detail that would likely allow Samsung to maximize its AI6 output. “Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house,” Musk wrote in his post.

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Elon Musk on AI5 and AI6

Tesla currently produces vehicles with its AI4 chip, which is produced by Samsung. As per the CEO, Tesla’s AI5 chip, which just finished its design, will be produced by TSMC. The AI5 chip will be produced initially in Taiwan, and then in Arizona, the CEO noted.

Elon Musk’s comments about AI6 and Samsung’s output suggest that Tesla is really preparing to enter a stage in its growth that involves production at a scale that’s never been seen before. Tesla’s speed is quite notable, though it seems safe to assume that the actual rollout of AI6 will still be a few years away. 

In a few years, Tesla will probably be mass producing the Cybercab and Optimus, as well as more affordable vehicles that will likely see more adoption from mainstream customers. This means that Samsung’s AI6 ramp will likely be just in time to support Tesla’s outputs for its Optimus bots, its Cybercabs, and its mass market affordable cars.

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