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Tesla Stock: Used EV Boom, Robotaxis and $158B Twist

Tesla Stock: Used EV Boom, Robotaxis and $158B Twist

Tesla ( (TSLA) ) has been popular among investors this week. Here is a recap of the key news on this stock.

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Tesla is seeing surprising strength in its used-car business, with the Model X now the fastest‑selling used vehicle in the U.S., turning over in just 25.6 days versus more than 50 days for the average car. Heavy depreciation is making models like the Model X, Cybertruck, and Model Y far cheaper than new vehicles, drawing in cost‑conscious buyers even as financing costs stay elevated and average new‑car prices hover around $50,000.

This shift underscores that demand for electric vehicles is not disappearing but migrating to the second‑hand market, where Tesla’s brand, Supercharger network, and lower prices stand out against rivals. On Wall Street, TSLA carries a Moderate Buy rating, with an average price target around $410 per share, implying mid‑single‑digit upside after a roughly 33% rally over the past year.

Corporate governance and compensation were also in focus as Tesla disclosed a headline compensation figure of about $158 billion for CEO Elon Musk, tied almost entirely to a 10‑year equity award that has not yet vested and has delivered him no cash so far. The eye‑catching number, driven by accounting valuation rather than payouts, nevertheless helped lift Tesla shares more than 3%, and highlights how closely investor sentiment tracks Musk’s incentives and long‑term alignment.

At the same time, Tesla’s heavy reliance on AI for its autonomous‑driving push is drawing scrutiny over so‑called “hallucination” risks, where the software misperceives objects or situations. The company’s camera‑first, data‑hungry approach could scale globally but leaves its systems dependent on strict human supervision for now, a factor investors must weigh when estimating future robotaxi and software‑margin potential.

Operationally, Tesla hit a key milestone as the first Semi truck rolled off the high‑volume line at Gigafactory Nevada, finally moving the long‑delayed program into true scale production. With list prices estimated between $260,000 and $290,000, a successful ramp could open a lucrative new revenue stream in commercial trucking at a time when the company is looking for fresh growth and stronger cash generation.

Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions are also inching forward, with reports that an unsupervised fleet has grown to about 25 vehicles across three Texas cities, and 165 active autonomous vehicles in total, heavily concentrated in the Bay Area. The numbers remain tiny compared to prior promises, but visible growth in unsupervised operations is encouraging for investors betting that high‑margin robotaxi services could one day rival or surpass Tesla’s car‑making business.

Beyond vehicles, Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot project now faces rising competition from OpenAI‑backed 1X and Chinese players like Unitree and Agibot, which are pushing consumer‑scale robots capable of home assistance. Tesla plans to convert Model S and Model X lines at Fremont into its first large‑scale Optimus factory, with a long‑term goal of up to 1 million robots per year, a scale that would dwarf most rivals if realized.

The emerging humanoid market remains speculative, but could become a major new vertical if costs fall and real‑world uses expand, adding another optionality layer to the Tesla investment story. For now, analysts remain cautiously optimistic, with TSLA rated a Moderate Buy and consensus targets pointing to modest upside, suggesting the market is balancing execution risks in AI, autonomy, and robotics against the company’s powerful brand, ecosystem, and innovation pipeline.

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