Elon Musk was busy pulling driverless buses out of his hat at “We, Robot” last week, but Uber’s been cruising in the robotaxi race for a while now.
And Tesla’s longish timeline for the Cybercab just gave Uber stock the perfect excuse to pocket a sweet tip. Uber shares have been in the fast lane all year anyway. Tesla? Not so much.
So, Uber investors who might have been feeling uneasy ahead of Tesla’s Friday event are now just straight up chilling.
The speedometer
- Uber’s stock jumped nearly 11% on Friday after “We, Robot.” Tesla’s stock, on the other hand, slid more than 8%.
- Uber has been ahead of Tesla all year, with shares up almost 48% since January.
- Tesla has been down more than 12%. (Not a good look, Elon!)
- Most analysts covering Uber have a “buy” rating for the stock, with the highest 12-month price target suggesting an 18% increase to $102. But analyst consensus on Refinitiv points to a measly gain of just over 2% for Tesla.
Uber ready
Uber has been making moves and teaming up with companies to roll out autonomous vehicles for a while now. The latest? A partnership with Chinese EV tech company WeRide to bring its robotaxis to Uber’s platform in Abu Dhabi later this year. (WeRide has been testing its driverless cars through the TXAI app in certain areas of Abu Dhabi. MONIIFY is going to try one soon. Stay tuned! 🚕)
That’s on top of a deal with Alphabet-owned Waymo announced last year. FYI, Waymo is still leading the race in commercial autonomous driving, and that lead will “likely only grow over the next 2+ years,” according to Morgan Stanley analysts. More partnerships are expected in the coming years.
So while Uber’s raced ahead, Tesla’s already too expensive. So, Waymo’ing may be good option? Alphabet shares are cheap, so to play robotaxi without shelling out $$$, maybe give the Google parent a go?
