For Tesla, which has a P/E ratio of 90, next week is crucial, but key executives suddenly resign

On the eve of Tesla's Robotaxi event on the 10th, Tesla's Chief Information Officer (CIO) announced his resignation.

According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, Tesla's CIO Nagesh Saldi will be stepping down. Saldi joined Tesla from HP in 2012 and gradually rose to become the Chief Information Officer in 2018, overseeing the construction of new data centers in Texas and New York during his tenure.

With less than a week left before Tesla officially launches the Robotaxi "Cybercab," for the company's stock price, the performance on the day of the event may be more important than the departure of a key executive.

Success or Failure Hangs on This Event

Tesla's stock price has fluctuated significantly this year, with a cumulative increase of 0.67% as of this Friday.

However, since Musk announced Robotaxi Day on April 5th, Tesla's stock price has risen by nearly 50%, recovering from a sharp drop of about 35% earlier this year, indicating the market's high expectations for this event.

Historically, important new product events by Tesla have led to significant stock price fluctuations. In the days following the debut of the Model 3 in March 2016, Tesla's stock price rose by 12%; after the humanoid robot Optimus was officially unveiled at AI Day in 2022, Tesla's stock price fell by 16% in a few days.

It can be said that whether Tesla's stock price will recover to previous highs or fall to lows will depend on Musk's performance on Robotaxi Day on October 10th.

To meet market expectations, Tesla needs to ensure at least the physical landing of Robotaxi and plan to launch unsupervised services by at least 2026, and explain to investors how Tesla will commercialize autonomous driving rental services.

Emmanuel Rosner, an analyst at Wolfe Research, said:

"Few industry events are as widely anticipated as Tesla's Robotaxi Day, the opportunity is huge, but they still have a lot to prove."

Investors' Focus: Can Tesla Secure Its Position as an "AI Company"

Some analysts point out that while Robotaxi Day may seem like a launch of autonomous driving technology, Musk actually needs to convince investors during this event that Tesla is a "technology company" rather than an "automobile manufacturer."

Wall Street generally believes that Tesla's future growth will mainly come from the execution of AI projects, especially Robotaxi and the humanoid robot Optimus, which is also the reason why Tesla's stock price has been supported amid sluggish electric car salesCurrently, Tesla's valuation remains very high, with a forward P/E ratio of up to 90 times in the next 12 months, surpassing the other 6 companies in the "Seven Sisters" of tech stocks, ranking among fast-growing tech companies like Palantir and Snowflake.

Some opinions believe that the success of the Robotaxi Day event largely depends on Musk.

Tesla bears believe that Musk is shifting investors' focus, diverting attention from bigger issues facing the company—such as declining sales, increasing competition, and decreasing profitability of electric vehicles.

On the other hand, Tesla bulls believe that Musk has signaled progress in AI-driven autonomous driving technology, further demonstrating that Tesla is not just a car company—and Musk is also responsible for overseeing this.

Model 2 also draws attention

In addition to Robotaxi itself, investors are also interested in whether Tesla will introduce a more affordable new model, Model 2, during this event.

The affordable version of Model 2 (with a starting price below $30,000) is expected to expand Tesla's potential market, as Tesla's sales have shown signs of weakness.

According to data from Wards Automotive, as of August, Tesla's sales in the United States have dropped by nearly 10% year-on-year, while the overall sales of electric vehicles in the market have only increased by 7%. At the same time, sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States have also increased by 18% year-on-year.

Currently, Wall Street generally expects Tesla's deliveries to be around 1.8 million vehicles in 2024, roughly the same as in 2023, lower than the analysts' forecast of 2.3 million vehicles made a year ago