Tesla Analysts Rave Over Cybercab's Design, Cost Advantage, But Production Timeline Sparks Worry: 'Too Far Out For Skeptical Investors To Get On Board'

Tesla, Inc. TSLA ‘We, Robot’ event is now in the rearview mirror and a couple of bullish analysts weighed in with their first take on the event and its implications for the company and the stock.

Impressive Event: The design of the new Cybercab, Tesla's completely autonomous vehicle, is very impressive up close and this lays the foundation for one of the future growth drivers for Tesla, said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives in a note. The analyst noted that CEO Elon Musk provided some details regarding the production timeline, hinting at a start date of sometime in 2026 or 2027 at the least.

The Cybercab features butterfly doors, no steering wheel or pedals and will be available for sale to customers for under $30,000. It has an operating cost of 20 cents per mile, and including taxes 30-40 cents, Ives said.

It will also feature inductive, or wireless charging, with the vehicle driving over an inductive charger and filling its battery through the floor, he said.

The vehicle “lays the foundation for one of the future growth drivers for Tesla as we believe Cybercab could represent a major opportunity to boost Tesla’s overall profits and margins over the next few years as this ramps,” the analyst said.

Tesla also provided updates on the unsupervised full self-driving, which is expected to be released in Texas and California in 2025, and expand based on state regulatory parameters, Ives said. The unsupervised FSD will initially be featured in the Model 3/Y to get users acquainted with the technology before the Cybercab rolls out, he said.

The new Robovan, which can seat up to 20 people was released, Ives said, adding that the vehicle could be a mode of transportation over the coming years that Tesla leverages.

The Optimus Robot also made its appearance, serving drinks to guests, and it is expected to be priced between $20k and $30k, the analyst noted. He expects commercialization after the next two years.

Price points on Cybercab will create a fleet segment that could be a $10 billion annual business at scale over the coming years for Tesla, Ives said. The launch event gave a glimpse of the future for this disruptive technology stalwart with Optimus potentially much closer to a reality that Wedbush thought heading into the event, he said.

Ives said he walked away from this event very positively about the Cybercab and autonomous path at Tesla. “Regulatory approval, insurance, and the specifics of this Cybercab launch will remain a debate on the Street and represent some timing challenges that Tesla will need to navigate into this next step of growth/future of transportation,” he said.

Ives has an Outperform rating and a $300 price target for Tesla shares.

See Also: How To Buy Tesla (TSLA) Stock

Cost Advantage: Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster highlighted the cost advantage a Cybercab would offer as he posted his comments on X following the event. Musk touted the vehicle as “individualized mass transit” and the 20 cents per mile cost of Cybercab compares to around $1 for an average car today, the tech venture capitalist said.

“My initial take on Cybercabs is I think people are going to like the look,” he added.

Munster said the timeline of the Cybercab was a disappointment, as Musk’s comments suggest SOP in 2027. “This is still too far out for skeptical investors to get on board with investing in $TSLA,” he said.

For most, the Robovan was a surprise and since the company did not give any timeline, Munster expects it only by 2028 at best.

Making sense of Musk’s statement that the Optimus will be priced at $25k-$30k “long term,” the tech analyst said, “That's language I've not heard from Elon as much on timing, so I'll say it's 2030 when it hits that price point.”

Tesla ended Wednesday’s session down 0.95% at $238.77, according to Benzinga Pro data. The stock is down about 3.91% for the year-to-date period.

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Photo courtesy: Tesla