It’s hard to imagine the news getting much worse for Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). April deliveries from its China factory (which also go to Europe) were down 6% from last year and 26% since just the month before. For the first quarter of 2025, Tesla said its revenue fell 20% over the last year.
In the U.S., Tesla’s first quarter sales declined 9%, even as total EV sales rose 10%. It’s hard to avoid a spit-take when you see Tesla’s EU numbers – registrations of new Tesla’s are down -46% in the UK and -62% in Germany.
The net result is that Tesla has abdicated its “king of EV” throne to China’s BYD (BYDDF).
Some of the most bullish Tesla analysts are turning on the company. Wedbush super bull Dan Ives slashed his price target from $550 to $315, saying “this is a full blown crisis Tesla is navigating now…”
JP Morgan cut earnings estimates by 25%, saying “…the trend in Tesla sales is worse than we and the market had appreciated…” JP Morgan has a $120 price target for Tesla – that’s 58% lower than where the stock currently trades.
Hedge fund manager Ross Gerber has even called for Elon Musk to be ousted as CEO.
It’s not necessary to detail the results of Musk’s time in Washington – it pretty much speaks for itself. What’s important is that Musk is out of Washington and back where he belongs at Tesla. And just in time to focus on a gamechanging event…
Robo-Taxi Rollout
Tesla says it will start rolling out Robo-Taxi service in Austin, Texas on June 1. Austin has liberal rules for fully automated driving, which is why Tesla is planning its rollout there.
Google’s Waymo already has between 700 and 1,000 Robo-Taxis operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin – providing 250,000 paid rides every week. Exact numbers for each city are not available.
Tesla is currently providing Robo-Taxi rides to employees only, with a driver ready to take the wheel if needed. It seems that this will be the model when Tesla rolls out in Austin. It remains to be seen how long the “driver assistant” will be needed.
This is one big difference between Waymo and Tesla Robo-Taxi service. Waymo is operational, Tesla is in testing mode.
However, if the testing phase goes well, Tesla could have huge upside for its Robo-Taxi service. Waymo retrofits cars with LiDAR and cameras to become autonomous. It’s expensive and time-consuming. Tesla delivered 633,000 cars in 2024. And Tesla says everyone of them is capable of fully automated self-driving…
Which means Tesla owners could use their cars for personal travel, and then turn them loose onto the Tesla ride-hailing network to give rides and make money for the owner. And if tesla can actually build Robo-Taxis for personal ownership at the promised $30,000 price point, well, that has dominating potential.
Tesla says the earliest that personal vehicles might be turned loose as Robo-Taxis is sometime in 2026.
But this is why Hammer and I are so bullish on Robo-Taxi stocks now. Because the groundwork for a massive shift in transportation is being laid right now. Research firm McKinsey says the Robo-Taxi sector could be generating $400 billion in revenue by 2030. Tesla’s Robo-Taxi launch is three weeks away. The clock is ticking…
We’ve got a free special report on the Robo-Taxi sector for you on the Outsider Club website. And we’re also putting the finishing touches on a presentation detailing Three Robo-Taxi Stocks Under $5 to Buy NOW that have massive upside potential. Be on the lookout, it’s going to be huge…
Take care, I’ll talk to you soon.
Briton Ryle
Chief Investment Strategist
Outsider Club
X/Twitter:https://twitter.com/BritonRyle
