Tesla (TSLA) shares fell again on Friday after a tough Thursday as the broader market continued to sell off. The stock is now down nearly 15% since CEO Elon Musk took home a $1 trillion payday.
With today's 4% decline, Tesla shares are down 14% for the week and have fallen well below the psychologically important $400 support level. The stock hit its lowest level since early September.
Weighing Tesla and wider technology market This reduces the likelihood of a December interest rate cut, which puts pressure on riskier assets such as large technology companies.
Problems with AI spending are also leading to an exodus of people into less in-demand industries. In addition to Tesla shares falling, Nvidia (NVDA) shares also fell another 3%.
For Tesla investors, the prospect of a near future powered by artificial intelligence and autonomy is where bulls are looking. The latest to speak out on this issue was Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley.
In his “too early” robot predictions for 2026, Jonas notes that Tesla will use a safety driver to test robotaxis in Texas and at least one other US state where Tesla has promised expansion. “2026 is the year robotaxis move from science fiction to reality among consumers and investors,” he wrote.
Musk said this in Recent Tesla Shareholders Meeting that Austin's safety robotaxi drivers will be laid off by the end of the year. He added that Miami, Dallas, Phoenix and Las Vegas will be the next cities to try out Tesla's robotaxi service.
In addition, Jonas predicts a convergence between Tesla and Musk's xAI. In particular, this will help Tesla set up production of Optimus bots.
“Tesla's robot factory is the 'mother' of the next generation of robots. The value of xAI's expanding capabilities in computing and truth-seeking artificial intelligence will become increasingly visible over time,” he said.
At its shareholder meeting, Tesla announced it would build a 1 million-unit Optimus production line at its Fremont, California, plant and eventually a 10-million-unit line at the Giga Texas plant in Austin. Optimus is currently in pilot production in Fremont.
Jonas has an Overweight rating on Tesla shares with a short-term price target of $410 and a Bullish outlook of 800.
Wedbush Yesterday Dan Ives added that investors should be looking for the automaker's AI future.
“In my opinion, this will be the most important chapter in Tesla's history,” the newspaper's Ives said. Yahoo Finance Invest event in New York.
Ives, who called the passage of Musk's pay package a “bright green light” for Tesla's plans for artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies, has an “outperform” rating on the stock and a maximum price target of $600.
Pras Subramanian is a senior auto reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him X and further Instagram.
