Yahoo Finance

Key Takeaways

• Elon Musk and other Tesla executives on Wednesday discussed self-driving software and the Optimus robot, among other topics.

• The call followed a disappointing quarterly report, with revenue and adjusted profits falling short of estimates.

• Musk said the company plans to have its unsupervised self-driving software available as a paid service in select markets starting in June.

Tesla's earnings report and conference call Wednesday shed light on the electric vehicle maker's plans for new versions of its self-driving software and its humanoid robot, Optimus.

The call, featuring CEO Elon Musk and other executives, followed an earnings report that saw revenue and adjusted profits fall short of estimates after Tesla (TSLA) reported its first-ever annual decline in vehicle deliveries.

The stock, meanwhile, was recently up more than 4%.

Unsupervised Self Driving, Robotaxi Launch Expected This Year

Musk said Tesla vehicles are driving autonomously at the company's Fremont, Calif., factory, with plans for the unsupervised vehicles to also be used at its Austin, Texas, factory in the coming months. Musk said he expects the unsupervised self-driving software to launch as a paid service around June in Texas and California, with other markets possible this year.

Once the unsupervised system is approved, Musk said, Tesla will also be able to put the first versions of its "Cybercab" autonomous taxis on the road. "I expect us to be operating—doing unsupervised activity with our internal fleet in several cities by the end of the year," Musk said on the call.

Tesla owners could be able to rent their vehicles for others to use autonomously next year, Musk said, though he joked that he has been the "boy who cried wolf" about projections in the past.

Analysts' Latest Takes on Tesla's Stock Are Mixed

JPMorgan analysts, reiterating their "underweight" rating and $135 price target, said in a note Thursday that the stock rising "bore no relation whatsoever to the company’s financial performance" in the fourth quarter or its projections for 2025.

They said that estimates for Tesla's future financial targets have repeatedly been lowered in recent months, but the stock and analysts' price targets have been rising at the same time. They concluded that Tesla shares have "become completely divorced from the fundamentals," and expressed caution about investing in the EV maker.

Oppenheimer analysts said they "remain cautious" about the timeline of Tesla's full self-driving development given the feature's "history of plateaus in performance."