Tesla Robot Injures Worker—Report. Why EV Deliveries Matter More for the Stock.

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the report early Wednesday. The shares were up 0.4% in premarket trading at $257.69.

While shares of the electric-vehicle company have dropped back from their highs of more than $290 in the middle of the year, it has still climbed from around $108 at the start of the year.

There’s reason to believe in a further short-term boost, according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. He reiterated his recently raised target price on the stock of $350 in a research note on Tuesday, citing demand data from China suggesting the company could beat analysts’ expectations for its fourth-quarter delivery numbers on Jan. 2 of 475,000 vehicles.

“We believe 4Q TSLA volumes in China should hit another record as the Category 5 storm that hit Tesla early in 2023 appears to have passed, with the company now raising prices and seeing steady demand in this key region,” Ives wrote.

However, a rally in 2024 to match this year’s performance might need a more radical driver. Ives is looking for further progress on Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s oft-repeated prediction that fully self-driving (FSD) cars are the future for the company.

“Tesla’s FSD capabilities continue seeing increased traction in the market despite several questions surrounding the safety of this software, but we view this as another incremental value driver in the TSLA growth story into 2024,” Ives wrote. 

It might seem like a bad time to be positive on self-driving vehicles as excitement over the technology has drained out of the market. However, Musk has recently reiterated his belief in autonomous driving as one of Tesla’s biggest opportunities.

Expect the capabilities of robots—and their safety—to be a big topic for Tesla next year.

Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]