October 12, 2024 – In the local markets on October 11, Tesla’s shares plunged by 8.78%, closing at 217.8,whichresultedinamarketcapitalizationof695.79 billion. This significant drop wiped out $67 billion from the company’s valuation overnight.
The preceding day, on October 10, Tesla unveiled its autonomous taxi and autonomous van models. However, due to the scarcity of detailed information, industry analysts believed that Tesla’s new offerings were unlikely to pose an immediate threat to ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Lyft in the short term. This announcement notably impacted Tesla’s stock price, which fell by over 10% during the trading session, hitting a one-month low.
Previously, Morgan Stanley had highlighted in a report that Tesla’s autonomous taxis could offer cost savings of up to 41% compared to Uber and Lyft. Nevertheless, the report also acknowledged numerous challenges hindering the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles, including technological immaturity, high costs, regulatory hurdles, and safety concerns. Following Tesla’s product launch event, analysts from Jefferies echoed similar sentiments, stating that despite Tesla’s ambitious goals, the company lacked sufficient evidence to demonstrate the feasibility of these objectives and had not provided a concrete plan for achieving higher levels of autonomous driving.
Prior to the event, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on September 26, claiming that “This will be one for the history books.”
