Tesla seeks to manufacture large-scale Robotaxis
Ohello its CEO tries to buy TwitterTesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is posting record profits and producing more while spending less. During the first trimester, the electric vehicle maker said it has produced more than 305,000 vehicles and delivered more than 310,000 vehicles. Its operating expenses totaled only about $1.9 billion. In comparison, it is less than by Rivian ~$2.1 billion during the fourth quarter.
Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated the company’s commitment to making a purpose-built robotaxi – without a steering wheel or pedal – and pushing it into volume production in 2024. ARK’s Latest Valuation Model, Tesla would launch a robotaxi service in 2024, two years later than its original goal. ARK Investment Management analyst Tasha Keeney predicts that “more than 60% of Tesla’s enterprise value in 2026 could be attributable to its robotaxi platform.”
“Tesla’s future robotaxi business line is a key driver, contributing 60% of expected value and more than half of expected EBITDA in 2026,” writes Keeney in the evaluation model. “Across our set of simulations, we expect EVs to make up 57% of company revenue in 2026, albeit at significantly lower margins than robotaxi revenue.”
Keeney adds, “Since 2017, Tesla’s capital expenditure per unit of additional capacity has gone from around $84,000, when the Model 3 was ramping up, to around $7,700. Given its much better than expected capital efficiency, we now assume that Tesla will spend $2,000–$7,000 per additional unit of capacity in 2026.”
Shares of Tesla rallied on April 21 after the electric vehicle maker reported record quarterly profit of $3.3 billion and indicated that production could continue to increase despite supply chain challenges and factory closures. Musk said the company could produce more than 1.5 million vehicles in 2022, up 60% year-over-year.
As Tesla ramps up production while cutting costs, the following ARK Invest exchange-traded funds may be worth keeping an eye on: the ARK Innovation Fund (NYSEArca: ARKK)the ARK Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF (CBOE: ARKQ)and the ARK Web ETF x.0 (NYSEArca: ARKW).
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