EV major Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) full self-driving (FSD) feature was taken on a test ride by a bull and a bear, and the video footage was up on Twitter to see. Recently, long-time Tesla shareholder and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, Ross Gerber and Dan O’Dowd, the CEO of Green Hills Software, a firm that specializes in automotive software, rode together in O’Dowd’s Model S, equipped with Full Self Driving (FSD). This ride happened in Santa Monica, California. O’Dowd has been a long-time critic of TSLA’s FSD capabilities and wants it banned. He tweeted a video of the ride and stated that the “car ran a stop sign at 35mph.”
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However, Gerber disagreed with O’Dowd and commented that he “was in control 10ft before the stop sign.”
However, O’Dowd reiterated his views to Barron’s and commented, “The results of our leisurely drive corroborate The Dawn Project’s previous findings, which show that Tesla’s Full Self Driving software sometimes does not register basic safety-critical road signs. Were it not for [Gerber braking] FSD would have put us all in the hospital, turning our one-hour leisurely drive into a tragedy. “
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) did not step into this furor as it does not take comments on Twitter seriously but investigates formal complaints lodged with the regulatory authority and issues recalls if a safety issue is identified.
Meanwhile, ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood sees the investment opportunity of a lifetime when it comes to Tesla robotaxis. Earlier this year, Wood had commented, “We think that the robotaxi opportunity globally will deliver $8 to $10 trillion in revenue by 2030 and is one of the most important investment opportunities of our lifetimes. One of the reasons for this is that it will save lives; 80-90% of auto fatalities and accidents are caused by human error, and autonomous driving is going to take away the human error.”
The FSD furor aside, Tesla is expected to announce its Q2 production and delivery numbers this weekend, and analysts are bullish about these numbers. Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner, while reiterating a Buy on the stock, has raised his estimate of the company’s Q2 vehicle deliveries to 448,000 units. This takes into account rising volumes after price reductions. The analyst expects delivery numbers in China to come in “particularly strong” and has raised the Q2 revenue estimates for TSLA to $24 billion from the prior estimate of $23.5 billion.
Rosner added that while the risk of additional price cuts remained for the rest of this year and in 2024, overall, the EV major’s longer-term story “remains very much intact and best-in-class.” The analyst raised the price target to $230 from $200, implying a downside potential of 10.2% at current levels. TSLA has already surged by more than 100% year-to-date.
Overall, analysts are cautiously optimistic about TSLA stock with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 13 Buys, 13 Holds, and five Sells.
