TSLA: Tesla Stock Charges Higher by 8% as Musk Praises Robotaxi Rollout. How Big Is It Really?

“It ain’t all that,” bearish analysts, probably, as they saw that the event was actually 10 self-driving cars with safety monitors in an isolated geofenced area in Austin, Texas.

🔥 Tesla Rips on Robotaxi Launch

• Tesla stock TSLA got off to a solid start of the week, ripping more than 8% on Monday (and another 2% in pre-market Tuesday) following a long-awaited and very key event.
• On Sunday, the EV maker rolled out its robotaxi pilot program, ferrying passengers and making headlines. But how big of an event was it really? Well, not too big. The area was geofenced, the driving was automated but controlled remotely through a safety monitor.
• And the cars? Just 10 of them, riding with influencers who were handpicked by the company with the intention of promoting the event and the rides.
• “Super congratulations to the Tesla AI software and chip design teams on a successful robotaxi launch!!” Musk said on X. “Both the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla.”

💰 What’s Priced In?

• While the stock pumped as traders finally got the “proof of concept,” some were still bearish. Ten cars in Austin doesn’t move the revenue needle — it’s a PR flex. Investors broadly will want to see serious fleet expansion if they’re going to continue buying the AI/robotaxi narrative.
• If we zoom out, a lot of this upside was already baked in. Since Musk’s big robotaxi event in October, Tesla shares have jumped more than 40%, mostly on the back of growing optimism around AI-driven autonomy.
• Musk has openly acknowledged that much of Tesla’s lofty valuation (over $1 trillion) depends on turning these robotaxi dreams into actual dollars. If autonomy stalls, that valuation starts to look mighty stretched.

🧐 Reality Check

• Tesla’s robotaxi rollout, in this sense, was more appetizer than entrée — a carefully staged glimpse into a still-distant future. Bulls see a multi-trillion-dollar AI empire in the making. Bears see a well-choreographed PR event masking how far away true autonomy remains.
• Regulatory approval, insurance complexities, public safety concerns, and the ever-pesky real-world driving variables remain massive hurdles before revenue from self-driving cars could start pouring in.
• But today, at least, Wall Street is giving Tesla credit for finally taking a step forward — even if that step is more like sticking a toe in the water.