- Elon Musk has made another lofty production promise
- The Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO says the company’s vehicles will be fully autonomous by 2023
- TSLA stock is rising today, but some are skeptical that Tesla can deliver
Tesla is back in the green today after a new announcement; CEO Elon Musk has said that, by this time next year, Tesla vehicles will be completely autonomous. This sudden prediction comes just a week after the launch of an investigation into Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) technology. Now, TSLA stock is moving upward again.
Last week, Tesla shares slipped below $700, the stock’s lowest point since the summer of 2021. Here’s what investors should know about the new update from Elon Musk.
The Latest (Self) Driver for TSLA Stock
Elon Musk’s new announcement has given TSLA stock a much needed jolt. As of this writing, shares are up just under a percent for the day, staying slightly elevated.
Of course, it hasn’t been a good month for the electric vehicle (EV) sector so far. Industry leader Tesla is struggling. Meanwhile, Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) posted a poor second-quarter outlook, also causing fellow Chinese EV producer Nio (NYSE:NIO) to take a dive.
While this latest prediction for Tesla is exciting, it has already garnered some warranted skepticism. Tesla doesn’t have a history of meeting its ambitious deadlines. What’s more, they have often centered around FSD tech, which Musk admitted last year is harder to produce than he had expected. Last July, Musk tweeted as much when a Tesla EV owner trolled him about a delayed rollout.
Haha, FSD 9 beta is shipping soon, I swear!
Generalized self-driving is a hard problem, as it requires solving a large part of real-world AI. Didn’t expect it to be so hard, but the difficulty is obvious in retrospect.
Nothing has more degrees of freedom than reality.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2021
Despite all of the hard work on Tesla’s FSD promises, investors also have plenty of reason to be cautious. Last week, a Tesla crash in Newport Beach, California killed three people. Authorities are currently investigating if the driver had engaged the car’s autopilot feature.
This isn’t the first time that Tesla’s autonomous tech has caused problems, either. In February, the company issued a recall due to problems with its rolling stop feature.
Now, Musk is doubling down on promises of autonomous driving. While that is exciting to think about, it’s understandable why both consumers and experts are skeptical about it becoming a reality.
The Road Ahead
FSD skepticism aside, there is something important to note when it comes to TSLA stock. Sure, the company has missed deadlines and experienced setbacks before, but that has never kept shares down for long. TSLA stock has an ability to overcome.
Still, when an announcement this important comes at a ten-month low for shares, it’s hard not to wonder whether Musk is trying to generate excitement short-term. All told, this latest FSD announcement is absolutely worth the watch.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
