Record High for the Year
Stands Out Amid Weakness in 'Magnificent 7'
Closing in on Last December's All-Time High
Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, hit its highest price of the year on December 15 (local time) following reports that the company is conducting pilot operations of fully driverless robotaxis. The gap with its all-time high, recorded last December, narrowed to less than $5.
On this day, Tesla closed at $475.31 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 3.56% from the previous session. This marks the highest level since the beginning of the year, with the intraday price reaching as high as $481.77. While most of the so-called 'Magnificent 7' stocks, including Apple and Alphabet (Google), declined overnight, Tesla alone showed strong performance.
Tesla's share price reached an all-time high of $479.86 at the close on December 17 last year, but has traded below that level since the start of this year. In April, it fell to the $214 range during the session and continued to underperform, but after recovering to the $400 level in mid-September, it has shown remarkable strength this month.
This trend appears to reflect investors' expectations for autonomous driving technology. Since June, Tesla has been piloting a robotaxi ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, but until now, the vehicles have operated with a safety supervisor or driver on board.
However, Tesla executives announced over the past weekend that they are now testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in Austin without a driver. CEO Musk also replied to a post about robotaxis on X (formerly Twitter) the previous day, stating, "Test drives are underway with no one in the car."
However, neither Tesla nor Musk has specified when a fully autonomous robotaxi service will be available to the general public.
CNBC, a U.S. financial news outlet, pointed out that it may still be a long way off before that point is reached. According to CNBC, as of mid-October, Tesla reported a total of seven collision incidents involving vehicles operating in Austin. These vehicles are equipped with an automated driving system (ADS) that is not yet widely available to the public, and a human safety supervisor was seated in either the passenger or driver's seat. However, Tesla reported to authorities that the severity of the accidents was not significant.
As of October, Tesla was operating fewer than 30 robotaxi vehicles in Austin, and CEO Musk plans to increase this number to 60 by the end of 2025.
In addition, Tesla's development of the humanoid robot 'Optimus' is also seen as a positive factor for the stock. On December 3, reports emerged in the United States that the Donald Trump administration is considering an executive order to introduce support policies aimed at fostering the robotics industry to counter China.
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