Buckle up. Tesla stock (TSLA) surged roughly 8.2% on June 23 following its Robotaxi launch during the weekend.
The electric vehicle maker on Sunday deployed a small group of self-driving taxis picking up paying passengers in Austin, Texas. CEO Elon Musk called the event the “culmination of a decade of hard work” in a post on X, noting that “the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla.”
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives attended the Robotaxi event and said he was “very impressed.”
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“We took a route through a park with dirt roads and traffic cones, yet the car was able to navigate perfectly and picked us up right at our exact location,” he described.
“The interior features two touchscreen panels: one in the front and one in the back row above the AC vent. The back row panel is able to integrate with the user’s Tesla account and sync with their Robotaxi app and automatically loads the user’s content onto a suite of apps including Apple Music, Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, Disney+, and more.”
The self-driving experience may feel futuristic, but the need to buckle up hasn’t changed. And the same goes for how investors view Tesla stock.
Year-to-date, Tesla stock is down more than 13%.
Goessman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Tesla stock has had a turbulent 2025
Tesla is the world’s most valuable automaker, but its investors had a tough time earlier this year. EV sales slowed in key markets like Europe, China, and California, while Musk drew criticism for focusing more on politics than the company’s core business.
In April, Tesla reported weak earnings earlier this week, including a 20% year-over-year decline in automotive revenue and a 71% plunge in net income.
Related: Tesla’s robotaxi finally launches, but there’s a twist
Many Wall Street analysts now believe that much of Tesla’s sky-high stock value rests on its ability to deliver robotaxis and humanoid robots. Musk said his goal is to expand the service to many U.S. cities by the end of this year, with “millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously in the second half of next year.”
Still, the company could face major challenges in scaling up the Robotaxi service quickly.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation on June 20 requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles, effective September 1. However, compliance in Texas remains far easier than in some states, notably California, which requires the submission of vehicle-testing data under state oversight, according to Reuters.
Year-to-date, Tesla stock is down more than 13%.
Analysts mixed on Tesla stock after Robotaxi event
Wedbush reiterated a price target of $500 and an outperform rating for Tesla stock, according to a research report published on June 22.
Ives said the experience exceeded expectations and “lit the spark for autonomous driving.”
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“The key takeaways are that it was a comfortable, safe, and personalized experience. The ride itself was completely smooth, and it was indistinguishable that the car was driverless as there was never a moment in the vehicle where we felt as if it did something irrational,” Ives wrote.
Ives said this is the beginning of a “$1 trillion autonomous journey.”
“Today’s successful Robotaxi launch is really just the beginning of the Tesla AI story. The Robotaxi’s we experienced today were foundational, and there is a path for the future where these Robotaxis may also have Grok integration, interior customization, and a much more user-centric focus as there’s no longer a need to focus on the driver experience,” Ives added.
More Tesla:
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- 10,000 people join Tesla class action lawsuit over key issue
Wedbush’s price target on Tesla is the highest among Wall Street analysts.
UBS analyst Joseph Spak also raised the price target on Tesla to a more cautious $215 from $190, maintaining a sell rating on the shares, thefly.com reported. The analyst warned in a research note that the autonomous ride-hailing opportunity is already priced into the stock.
According to TipRanks, Wall Street analysts have an average stock price target of $287 for Tesla, representing a 17.7% downside from the last price of $348.68.