Adam Spatacco, The Motley Fool
5 min read
In This Article:
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Elon Musk sees autonomous driving as a major component of Tesla's future.
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While the competition in this young industry will be intense, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks Tesla has an edge.
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Some on Wall Street have been raising their share price outlooks for Tesla stock, but recent price action suggests now could be a risky time to buy.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is primarily known for two things: electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage. For years, however, the company's eccentric CEO Elon Musk has been talking about a vision for the company that's rooted in artificial intelligence (AI).
Specifically, Musk wants to parlay Tesla's automobile business into a full-fledged robotaxi operation. The prospects of Tesla disrupting ride-hailing, delivery services, and even car rental businesses has investors excited. But just how real is the opportunity?
According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who appears to be a fan of Musk already, Tesla's autonomous driving ambitions are very real. Let's dig into some recent commentary from Huang that should have Tesla bulls cheering.
During an April 2024 earnings call, Musk made an interesting point comparing the evolution of automobiles to that of cellphones. He described how the release of the iPhone and Android devices served as an existential shift in the mobile phone business, essentially turning flip phones into relics.
Musk went on to predict that "all cars will need to be smart cars" in the future. By "smart car," Musk means cars that are capable of driving themselves. Essentially, he is saying that autonomous driving is the future of the automotive industry, and if legacy manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors don't catch up to what Tesla is developing through its full self-driving software, then "licensing becomes not optional."
During an interview with Yahoo! Finance, Huang appeared to echo Musk's sentiment that all cars will eventually be leveraging autonomous driving technology. But the real kicker is what Huang said about Tesla, declaring the company is "far ahead" of the competition.
Two of the biggest Tesla bulls on Wall Street are equity research analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
