Elon Musk announced on Friday that Tesla would reveal its robotaxi on August 8.
TSLA – Daily Chart
TSLA bounced in after-hours trading on Friday and may look to create a price bottom around these levels. $160 has been the recent low, with a downtrend support below that. The $180 level would be the first resistance level ahead.
The latest announcement could attract value investors looking to get involved before the August reveal. Musk made a simple post on X, saying, “Tesla Robotaxi unveiled on 8/8.”
The billionaire has pinned a lot of Tesla’s outlook on self-driving capabilities and has said that with software updates, autonomous cars will eventually become better at driving than humans. He also teased Tesla owners with an earning opportunity by saying that they rent out their vehicles for taxi rides.
Tesla has yet to predict when self-driving will become a reality. Five years ago, in April 2019, Musk and co. said they would operate robotaxis by 2020. A figure of $30,000 per year was also given for what Tesla owners could make by offering their cars for a robotaxi service.
The announcement by Musk could also be seen as an attempt to arrest the recent decline in the company’s share price. Tesla has seen its stock slump by around 30% year-to-date. Production problems have been at the heart of that issue, and one analyst said Tesla was “a growth stock without growth”.
Tesla’s announcement also came after tech company Apple cut 600 jobs as it abandoned its push to create electric vehicles.
Tesla has seen its stock struggle this year as its dominance in China has been cut by domestic electric vehicle makers such as BYD, and the excessive valuation given on lofty growth expectations has disappeared. That was after a year of price cuts by Tesla that cut into its profitability margins as it hoped to beat the competition. However, China’s EV makers have proved to be resilient.
Despite recent pressures, Tesla may see buyers come in ahead of the August reveal.
