Tesla bears and bulls weigh in on Robotaxi event, analysts praise Ford, mull Stellantis

It’s another week, and if there would be any event more anticipated than the U.S. Presidential Election on November 5, then it'd be Tesla’s “Robotaxi Event” on October 10.

While bears and bulls preview the event from opposite sides, Ford gets a boost from Goldman Sachs, a key Tesla rival reports a new capital injection, and analysts are mulling Stellantis.

Elon Musk's Hollywood Birthday celebration.

On Oct. 10, Tesla CEO Elon Musk (TSLA) is anticipated to guide a Hollywood-style spectacle, the highly anticipated "robotaxi event" at the Warner Brothers studio backlot.

The event itself, to start with intended for August 8, is touted by Musk as "one for the history books," as it truly is a ways intended to be a significant product announcement for a considerable choice of Tesla's more ambitious projects, kind of like the "Cybercab" robotaxi and a likely $25,000 electric car.

Nonetheless, both Tesla skeptics and Tesla enablers are waiting for the live-streamed event with a lot anticipation.

In his newest note, published on October four, Wedbush's Tesla bull Daniel Ives relayed stellar confidence within the company's performance at the predicted Robotaxi event.

"We have confidence Robotaxi Day shall be a seminal and historical day for Musk and Tesla and marks a new chapter of growth around self sufficient, FSD, and AI future at Tesla," Ives said in his note. "We continue to have confidence Tesla is one of essentially the most undervalued AI name within the market and we are waiting for Musk & Co. to unveil some 'game changing' self sufficient technology at this event next week."

He reiterated his belief that Tesla is larger than "just an EV vendor" and that its push into AI and robotics shall be a key turning point within the future.

"We continue to have confidence AI/FSD represents a $1 trillion of value on my own for Tesla over the drawing near years," he said. "Next week, or not it would be time for Musk to have a watershed unveiling event to kick this AI era off at Tesla."

Wedbush maintained an "Outperform" rating and $300 price target for Tesla stock.

On the flip side, Deepwater Management partner Gene Munster warned, in every single place the world a recent appearance on CNBC's 'Fast Money,' that the event would be "light on important points," whatever the built-up anticipation of Tesla revealing no longer one but three EVs: the "Cybercab" robotaxi, a so-in most cases is often called "Robovan," and in all probability a $25,000 EV.

He also warned that the kind of event that Musk and Co. intend to drag off on October 10 may well enable it to be light on important points for its future product.

"...The setup of the event, the people to be able to be there; it truly is no longer analysts and investors with their laptops," Munster said. "This is de facto a launch party, to be able to visualize Elon getting up there, talking in a extremely high level and no longer giving a lot substance around important points."

Given the prospect that a you may call to mind Tesla robotaxi may finally find yourself spending an eternity in regulatory purgatory before it picks up its first passengers, Munster says he is seeking out much more important points about a product that has been rumored to be scrapped.

"The one detail that I’m going to hyper-excited by is that cheaper $25,000 car, after they are waiting for to ramp production," he told CNBC.

In a note published on September 30, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas alluded to a likely radical shift for Tesla which may perhaps even see itself surface very soon.

“Is it just me, or are you seeing more ‘breadcrumbs’ from Tesla’s CEO in order to potentially connect Tesla with aviation? Tesla sits at the intersection of robotics and AI. Cars (eighty one% of TSLA revenue…and falling) are only one expression,” Jonas wrote.

The MS analyst shared some snippets where Musk expressed interest in other different types of Tesla-branded transport.

He specifically pointed to Elon's comments in every single place the world Tesla's 2nd-quarter earnings call, where he mentioned that "the arena is headed for fully electrified transport, no longer just cars but also aircraft and boats."

Going Nuts for Nio

On September 30, Bloomberg reported that key Tesla rival, the Chinese automaker Nio (NIO) has gotten a significant lifeline within the kind of an investment injection of greater than $1.9 billion from its shareholders.

In a statement on September 29, Nio announced that a bunch of key investors, including Hefei Jianheng New Energy Automobile Investment Fund Partnership, Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment Co., and CS Capital Co have agreed to inject about $470 billion in shares, while the remainder will come from a without delay investment from Nio itself.

The transactions from all parties will cut back the parent company's holding from ninety two.1% your entire way down to 88.three%. The 11.7% will belong to strategic investors and other stakeholders.

In a research note on Sunday, Morgan Stanley analyst Tim Hsiao said that he believes that the "new investment will unravel the company’s fundraising debate and give a boost to shut-term cash waft"

MS maintains an Overweight rating on Nio stock and a cost target of $6.10

One at a time, in a research note published on September 30, Citi analyst Jeff Chung raised its price target on Nio from $7 to $8.90. This is confident that its Onvo brand will have the option to boost its orders in every single place the world the Golden Week holiday (a Chinese working holiday, where Chinese working people have three to four days around its National Day), where keen shoppers are expected to travel and spend money.

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Ford's Fleeting Profit Driver

Fleet sales, kind of like those to government agencies, businesses, and rental car companies, are occasionally seen as a cop-out for auto manufacturers that struggle to move metal on dealership tons.

Most notoriously, Japanese manufacturer Nissan is guilty of relying on fleet sales to move Altima sedans and Rogue SUVs. In step with a March 2024 Automotive News piece, February 2024 sales data showed that Nissan "sold nearly 40,000 vehicles, or forty four percent of its total volume, to fleet, mostly rental companies."

Nonetheless, one company that has been relied on in fleet sales for eternity is Dearborn's very own: the Blue Oval of Ford (F) . Its Explorer-based Police Interceptor SUV is one of essentially the most well-liked police car within the u . s .. At the identical time, its Transit van is relied on by an exceptional deal of businesses, from plumbers, airport shuttle companies and U-Haul. In case your Amazon delivery person just is de facto not driving one of Rivian's (RIVN) purpose-built electric vans, likelihood is, they're driving a Ford Transit in Prime livery.

All all through the company’s 2nd-quarter earnings call on July 24, Ford CEO Jim Farley boasted about its fleet business, normally also is often called Ford Pro, which used to be the dominant performer that quarter.

“No other company has Ford Pro. We intend to totally press that advantage,” Farley said.

In a new note, analysts from Goldman Sachs upgraded their rating of Ford stock from Neutral to Buy, citing Ford Pro as a driver of profitability. Analysts predict that Ford Pro can account for 20% of Ford's EBIT by 2026.

In its note, GS says that Ford Pro's software subscription revenue has been growing at 35-40% every year, and will "continue to grow (aided by improved offerings kind of like in fleet services and products and ADAS).”

Analysts say Ford is targeting $1 billion in software revenue by 2025. Additionally, it adds that Blue Oval's newest cost-cutting initiatives might help you soften the blow from potential threats from China and short-term suppressed demand for all-electric vehicles.

GS has a cost target of $13 on Ford Stock.

Related: Massive Jeep recall is simplest the newest headache for Stellantis

More trouble for Now no longer-So-Stellar Stellantis.

Stellantis (STLA) is smack dab within the center of a full host of problems affecting its final analysis. On October 1, the multinational automaker issued a enormous recall affecting its popular Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrids, citing a scary fire risk.

Additionally, in a statement on October three, the automaker reported a 20% drop in vehicle sales from a year ago. Chrysler sales dropped forty seven%, Dodge dropped forty three%, Alfa Romeo dropped 29%, and Ram truck sales dropped 19%. Jeep used to be one of its best performers, nonetheless it indisputably saw a 6% decline.

Matt Thompson, the top of Stellantis's U.S. retail sales, said the automaker introduced "an aggressive incentive program," or massive discounts across Stellantis's portfolio of cars to start with of the 0.33 quarter. This program has helped lower dealer inventories by greater than 50,000 units, or 11.6%.

Following the news, Barclays analysts downgraded Stellantis stock from $25.38 to $13.seventy nine, noting that they "got wrong-footed" regarding issues within the States and Europe. The analysts add that they do no longer see Stellantis recuperating until the first half of 2025.

On October four, the Wall Side road Journal reported that Stellantis is finding creative how to conserve its spending. In an email read by the Journal titled “The Doghouse is back!”, Stellantis CFO Natalie Knight instructed her finance team to sharply scrutinize requests for purchases from outside vendors to rein in expenses.

“If we apply more discipline, we're ready to make certain big savings for the company," Knight said within the e-mail.

Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks