After experiencing a drop of nearly 50% at the beginning of the year, Tesla Let's start all over again.
On Monday local time, the company's stock price rose nearly 5% intraday, just shy of its all-time closing high on December 17, 2024, pushing Musk's personal wealth to $670 billion. He thus became the world's first billionaire to surpass $600 billion, a milestone never before reached by anyone else. The market is optimistic about the company's prospects in artificial intelligence. The prospects for the development of autonomous driving technology are becoming increasingly promising, with some institutions even proclaiming a market capitalization target of $3 trillion.
$3 trillion target price
Tesla 's future valuation is increasingly dependent on its self-driving taxis and bionic humanoid robots. The project's prospects are promising.
As of Monday's close, Tesla's market capitalization was approximately $1.6 trillion, rebounding more than 70% from its March lows. However, Tesla remains one of Wall Street's most steadfast supporters. Bullish analysts predict its valuation could double by the end of next year. (Wedbush Securities) "With the chapter on autonomous driving and robotics officially launched, Tesla and Musk are poised for a year of explosive growth," Wedbush analyst Daniel Eves wrote in a research note to clients on Monday.
Ives set a target price of $600 for Tesla , corresponding to a market capitalization of $2 trillion; furthermore, he proposed a more optimistic scenario—Tesla could surpass a market capitalization of $3 trillion within a year. He stated that this growth will primarily benefit from Tesla's investment in artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles, a business segment valued at "at least" $1 trillion.
Driven by his optimistic outlook, Tesla's stock price surged as much as 4.9% during Monday's trading session, coming within 2% of its all-time high.
For months, Tesla has been operating a ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area, with the ultimate goal of creating a fully autonomous taxi platform. Currently, the service uses vehicles equipped with Tesla's driver assistance systems and staff on board to intervene in emergencies.
Last weekend, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the company has begun testing fully autonomous driving in Austin, enabling its vehicles to operate without a safety driver. "Currently, the unsupervised autonomous driving technology has been largely mastered. Austin will then see fully driverless vehicles ." Tesla's self-driving taxis. He had previously stated his plan to completely remove onboard staff from self-driving test vehicles by the end of this year.
Tesla also plans to expand its fleet by the end of this month and extend its operations to several new cities in Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas. However, this expansion process may be time-consuming, partly because different state and local governments in the United States often have different compliance requirements that companies must meet one by one.
Ives wrote in his report that this compliance pressure is expected to ease by early 2026. He speculated that the White House might centralize regulatory authority over autonomous driving from state governments to the federal government. He stated that this shift is "very likely" to happen. Just last week, Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting states' power to set their own AI- related regulations. "Trump wants the U.S. to maintain its lead in this AI arms race, and autonomous driving technology is a key factor in determining the outcome of this competition," he added, noting that Tesla's self-driving taxi business will play a "central role" in it.
He also predicts that sales of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance system will provide strong growth momentum for the company—more than half of Tesla owners are expected to choose to purchase the software outright or subscribe monthly. This would be a significant leap in growth, as Tesla executives revealed that only 12% of owners had opted to purchase the software as of the last quarter. Tesla also plans to push for regulatory approval of the system in markets such as Europe next year, which could simultaneously drive growth in both FSD software and electric vehicle sales.
Tesla may also benefit from the development of two core products—the Cybercab, a dedicated self-driving taxi, and the Optimus humanoid robot . Both products are expected to enter production in 2026 and are core pillars of Tesla's future development.
Musk's wealth hits record highs.
According to Forbes, Musk became the first person in history to reach a net worth of $600 billion on Monday.
This may only be the beginning. Earlier this year, Tesla's sales and stock price declined when Musk focused more on political affairs in Washington, D.C. However, after he stepped down from his government post and refocused his attention on his company, Tesla's stock price began to recover.
As previously reported by CBN, Tesla held a shareholder meeting in November and passed a key vote, approving Musk's $1 trillion compensation package. If Musk achieves the goals listed in the new plan—including increasing Tesla's market capitalization to $8.5 trillion, delivering 20 million cars, ordering 10 million Full Self-Driving (FSD) vehicles, and 1 million robots—he will ultimately hold nearly 29% of Tesla's shares, thus realizing his desire for greater control over the company.
Tesla is attempting to reverse its sales slump. Industry association data shows that from January to October this year, Tesla's sales in the EU market fell by 39% year-on-year, and its market share also dropped from 2.2% to 1.3% during the same period. Coupled with fluctuations in performance in the Chinese market and weak sales in the US market, Tesla is facing its second consecutive year of declining car sales. According to forecasts from financial data service provider FactSet, Tesla's deliveries in the fourth quarter of this year (the quarter containing December) are expected to be 450,000 vehicles, a 9% year-on-year decrease.
The company has launched lower-priced versions of its Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan, which account for the majority of its annual deliveries, and is offering them simultaneously in the European and American markets, hoping to boost sales and reverse the decline.
Tesla's investments in artificial intelligence and robotics may help Musk get closer to fulfilling the conditions for his compensation package.
Meanwhile, Musk's SpaceX is accelerating its IPO process, scheduled for June next year, which is expected to significantly increase his personal wealth. As of December 13, SpaceX had approved an internal employee stock sale plan, raising the price per share to $421 and valuing SpaceX at approximately $800 billion, nearly doubling its valuation in its latest funding round in July, thus surpassing OpenAI to become the world's largest " unicorn." Musk currently owns 42% of SpaceX.
Furthermore, Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI Holdings, is reportedly in talks for a new round of funding, with a potential valuation of $230 billion. This valuation is more than double the $113 billion Musk claimed in March when he merged his AI startup xAI with social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to form xAI Holdings. Forbes estimates that Musk holds a 53% stake in xAI Holdings, worth $60 billion.
(Article source: CBN)
