It lacked drama: Analysts explain Tesla's stock plunge following the launch of the Cybercab

Tesla shares posted their worst performance in a month and a half at the close of trading on September 4, falling 6%. The day before, the company announced the commercial launch of its Cybercab robotaxi in Austin, Texas. The company intrigued the market with the announcement of a presentation about which little was known: attendance was by invitation only, there was no live stream, and members of the media were not allowed in.

In fact, neither investors nor analysts were impressed. The event left some on Wall Street with more questions than answers, according to CNBC.

— Wells Fargo published a note titled “Tesla Cybercab Launch Falls Short of Expectations” and noted that the service is already facing “early implementation issues,” according to CNBC. Customers shared videos and complained about routing errors, missed destinations, and long wait times or ride durations, the network noted. Tesla’s event offered few surprises and did not reveal details about the size of the fleet or the timeline for scaling up, noted Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan.

— Barclays called Tesla’s lack of direct communication “somewhat disappointing,” particularly the absence of a live stream of the event. “Without new guidance on growth and scaling targets, in our view, the event may have turned out to be a less significant catalyst than some investors had expected,” the bank noted.

— JPMorgan expects a moderate pullback in Tesla’s stock due to “limited information on deployment rates and targets.” The bank notes that there are currently about 45 Cybercab robotaxis registered in Texas, and its model assumes a minimum fleet on the roads by the end of 2026, an expansion to approximately 9,000 by the end of 2027, and further growth in 2028 and beyond.

— Morgan Stanley believes that further stock gains will depend on new—and publicly available—evidence that Tesla continues to expand its fleet of driverless Cybercabs and Model Y electric vehicles.

— RBC Capital Markets was also surprised by the presentation format: “There was no public livestream—a notable departure from Tesla’s traditionally theatrical product presentations,” the analysts wrote. In their view, questions about pricing, production rates, and regulatory approvals remain unanswered. RBC forecasts that by 2030, the Cybercab fleet in the U.S. will consist of more than 40,000 Tesla-owned autonomous vehicles. The company expects even faster growth in the 2040s and 2050s.

On September 4, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation to determine whether Tesla had properly self-certified its robotaxis as safe for use on public roads and compliant with safety standards. The regulator noted that the vehicles lack the control devices required by regulations, including a steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals, and mirrors. Furthermore, the company did not request any exemptions, the regulator previously stated.

Tesla's stock has fallen 21% since the beginning of 2026. Analysts tracking the stock are divided: 22 recommend buying (Buy and Overweight ratings), the same number recommend holding (Hold), and six more recommend selling (Sell and Underweight), according to MarketWatch.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor