A Two-Seater Robotaxi Starting to Catch On: Tesla Stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) Sinks Regardless

The rise of robotaxis is giving electric vehicle giant Tesla TSLA -2.43% ▼ a bit of a boost, but investors seem oddly concerned despite the growing interest. In fact, some even think there is a solid market for a two-seater Robotaxi, like the kind Tesla and some of its competitors are looking to produce. Investors were having none of it, though, and sent shares sliding down over 2% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.

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Tesla was perhaps the first to push into two-seater Robotaxi territory, but it was not long before another competitor tried it. Lucid Motors LCID -6.55% ▼ also brought out a two-seater model, part of a set of three models built on a midsize platform. This move was designed to save money, reports note, but it also addressed a market niche: single riders.

While some believe that a two-seater Robotaxi is a bad idea, others point out that a lot of traffic on ride-hailing programs is single rider traffic. So if you have single riders, who needs a vehicle with room for four? A two-seater will do the job nicely. Granted, this does add a step to ridesharing operations—the need to specifically mention how many riders are involved in the reservation—but if two-seaters are cheaper, and you really only need one seat anyway, then the idea of a smaller vehicle makes sense.

Optimus a “Distraction”?

Meanwhile, there is some concern growing about Tesla’s Optimus robot line, mostly because of one key point: use case. There is no doubt that the Tesla robot is an exciting proposition, a piece of gee-whiz technology par excellence. But it does sort of fall apart on contact with reality when you ask what, exactly, is this thing supposed to do that will make people buy it. And why is this so much more profitable, potentially, than sticking to electric vehicles?

Humanoid robots can do quite a few things, including things humanity would rather not. But how many humans are willing to pay the kind of money required to buy an Optimus—around $30,000 each, by some reports—for a thing that will do what we can do for ourselves already? Sure, there are possibilities. If it can be taught to pick fruit effectively it might be a winner in agricultural circles, though we already have some kinds of fruit-picking machines. But the use cases are a bit limited, in their current form.

Is Tesla a Buy, Hold or Sell?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 13 Buys, 11 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 41.31% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TSLA price target of $399.33 per share implies 5.73% upside potential.

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