Tesla shares climbed on Tuesday after an analyst maintained his bullish views on the EV maker.
The Tesla stock rose 1% to close at $338.71, reversing an early decline.
The move followed comments from William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who reviewed Tesla’s new robo-taxi service and said he was impressed with its performance.
In his note on Tuesday, Dorsheimer said Tesla’s reliance on optical cameras and Full Self-Driving software distinguished it from competitors that use more costly sensor technology.
However, the Tesla stock had given up most of those gains at the time of publication.
The TSLA stock was down around 0.5% at the time of writing.
Why the analyst is upbeat on Tesla’s robotaxi
Tesla launched a limited robo-taxi service in Austin, Texas, on June 22.
Unlike Alphabet’s Waymo and Amazon-owned Zoox, which use advanced sensors such as lidar and radar, Tesla’s vehicles depend solely on cameras paired with its autonomous driving software.
Dorsheimer said that could translate into a cost advantage if Tesla’s system proves as reliable as alternatives.
He added that Tesla’s robo-taxi “felt like a more luxurious service [than Waymo] for half the cost, and the driving felt more humanlike.”
Dorsheimer also pointed out the contrast between Tesla vehicles and rival robo-taxis, saying that Waymo and Zoox cars “stuck out like a sore thumb” because of their sensor setups.
Dorsheimer estimated Tesla’s robo-taxi business could be worth nearly $300 a share, or more than $900 billion.
His sum-of-the-parts valuation for Tesla, which includes businesses such as electric vehicles and energy storage, was about $360 a share.
“Despite our enthusiasm for robotaxi, we acknowledge there is a period of margin headwinds to endure from pending regulatory cuts as part of the [One Big Beautiful Bill]; thus, we maintain our Market Perform rating,” the analyst added.
Tesla’s China rival impresses investors
Separately, shares of Tesla rival XPeng rose on Tuesday after the Chinese electric vehicle maker posted quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street estimates.
XPeng reported a second-quarter loss of four cents per share on revenue of around $2.55 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast a loss of 11 cents per share on $2.5 billion in revenue.
In US trading, XPeng’s American depositary receipts were up 1.2% at $20.14 during early market hours.
The broader market showed mixed performance, with the S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Dow up 0.2%.
XPeng delivered 103,181 vehicles during the quarter, a 242% increase compared with the same period last year.
The company attributed the growth to strong demand for its models and advances in its smart vehicle technology platforms.
XPeng’s US-listed shares have gained about 68% since the start of the year, supported by steady sales momentum and improving financial results.
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