Jeremy Bowman,
The Motley Fool
Thu, September 18, 2025
Key Points
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sees Optimus representing 80% of Tesla's value in the future.
The response to the June robotaxi launch in Austin has been mixed.
The robotaxi market is huge, but competition is heating up.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk spent years hyping the company's robotaxis, leading up to the autonomous electric vehicles' launch in Austin, Texas, in June.
Musk said a robotaxi network would make Tesla the most valuable company in the world, and described fleets of autonomous Teslas gradually taking over the world. He unveiled the autonomous "Cybercab" at a splashy event last October, and he's proposed that individual Tesla owners would be able to cash in on the emerging technology, renting out their vehicles as autonomous ridesharing vehicles when they're not using them. Tesla backers like Ark Invest's Cathie Wood have argued that robotaxis would send the company's valuation to $5 trillion.
However, since Tesla's launch of a small robotaxi fleet in Austin, which expanded from an initial number of 10 to 20 in June to 30 by late August, Musk has been rather quiet about the new business.
He also made a statement earlier this month that suggests he's more focused on Tesla's next big thing, implying that the hype around robotaxis could be a thing of the past. In a post on his social media platform X, Musk said that "80% of Tesla's value will be Optimus," referring to the company's autonomous robot that's still in development.
It's unclear what timeline Musk has in mind for that, but based on that post, he clearly thinks that Optimus will one day dwarf the value of both Tesla's core EV business and the emerging robotaxi business.
Thu, September 18, 2025
Key Points
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sees Optimus representing 80% of Tesla's value in the future.
The response to the June robotaxi launch in Austin has been mixed.
The robotaxi market is huge, but competition is heating up.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk spent years hyping the company's robotaxis, leading up to the autonomous electric vehicles' launch in Austin, Texas, in June.
Musk said a robotaxi network would make Tesla the most valuable company in the world, and described fleets of autonomous Teslas gradually taking over the world. He unveiled the autonomous "Cybercab" at a splashy event last October, and he's proposed that individual Tesla owners would be able to cash in on the emerging technology, renting out their vehicles as autonomous ridesharing vehicles when they're not using them. Tesla backers like Ark Invest's Cathie Wood have argued that robotaxis would send the company's valuation to $5 trillion.
However, since Tesla's launch of a small robotaxi fleet in Austin, which expanded from an initial number of 10 to 20 in June to 30 by late August, Musk has been rather quiet about the new business.
He also made a statement earlier this month that suggests he's more focused on Tesla's next big thing, implying that the hype around robotaxis could be a thing of the past. In a post on his social media platform X, Musk said that "80% of Tesla's value will be Optimus," referring to the company's autonomous robot that's still in development.
It's unclear what timeline Musk has in mind for that, but based on that post, he clearly thinks that Optimus will one day dwarf the value of both Tesla's core EV business and the emerging robotaxi business.
Image source: Tesla.
Promises, promises
Even Tesla bulls know by now that Musk's statements are best taken with a grain of salt. It's hard to know if the quote above about Optimus was based on any real forecasting or just on his enthusiasm and confidence in the new technology.
Though it frustrates Musk's critics, part of his talent as a CEO is to perform a sort of sleight-of-hand where he distracts investors from current problems with the company by making promises about the future. Similarly, the bull case for Tesla seems to be constantly changing. At the start of the year, Musk's alliance with President Donald Trump drove the stock to double in price in just a few months before it pulled back on subsequent backlash against Musk and Tesla over Musk's apparent falling out with Trump.
Over the last week, Tesla stock has been rallying again despite reports that its market share in EVs has fallen to its lowest point in the U.S. since 2017, at 38% of total EV sales, showing it may be losing the market it once defined.
Musk's promises around robotics and his recent purchase of $1 billion worth of stock seem to have overcome any doubts (for now) and helped fuel recent gains. Tesla also received permission from Nevada to test its robotaxis in that state.
What's next for Tesla's robotaxis
Musk did promote the robotaxi launch in the company's July earnings call, and noted that it's seeking regulatory clearance in the Bay Area, Arizona, Florida, and Nevada.
He also predicted that Tesla would offer autonomous ride-hailing to half the U.S. population by the end of the year. However, now that it's already September, it seems unlikely that it will happen.
The robotaxi went live in the Bay Area on Sept. 4, though rides will come with a safety driver present, meaning they aren't fully autonomous. Tesla does not yet have the permit to operate autonomous vehicles without a driver.
For now, the market opportunity for robotaxis is massive, but Tesla is far from the only competitor here. Alphabet's Waymo remains the leader here, and other deep-pocketed operators are getting in the mix as Amazon's Zoox just launched in Las Vegas.
At this point, it's too soon to judge the impact the robotaxi will have, but it will almost certainly take longer to move the revenue needle than Musk has forecast. Meanwhile, statements like the one above on Optimus may help pump the stock, but they ultimately do a disservice to investors.
Currently, Tesla trades at a sky-high price-to-earnings ratio close to 200, and analysts expect both revenue and profits to fall this year.
Musk may have more bold predictions up his sleeve, but at some point, Tesla is going to have to back them up with real business results. At its current valuation and trajectory, the risk/reward in Tesla stock doesn't seem worth it.
Senior Yale Professor on Tesla (TSLA): ‘This is the Biggest Meme Stock We’ve Ever Seen’
Fahad Saleem
Wed, September 17, 2025
INSIDER MONKEY
Jeff Sonnenfeld, Yale School of Management senior associate dean, said in a recent program on CNBC that investors are relying too much on the capabilities of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. He called TSLA a meme stock and highlighted its high valuation.
“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”
Fahad Saleem
Wed, September 17, 2025
INSIDER MONKEY
Jeff Sonnenfeld, Yale School of Management senior associate dean, said in a recent program on CNBC that investors are relying too much on the capabilities of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. He called TSLA a meme stock and highlighted its high valuation.
“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”
Senior Yale Professor on Tesla (TSLA): “This is the Biggest Meme Stock We’ve Ever Seen’
Photo by Tesla Fans Schweiz on Unsplash
Tesla’s EV sales are falling all over the world as the company faces challenges from competitors. Tesla’s global sales in the second quarter fell 14% year over year. Even if Elon Musk increases his focus to fix the company’s problems, it would take a lot of effort to come out of the demand crisis. For example, in California, the largest U.S. market for electric vehicle adoption and sales, Tesla sales fell about 12% year over year in 2024, causing its market share to drop from 60.1% in 2023 to 52.5% in 2024. Was it because Californians are buying fewer EVs? No. Californians purchased more than 2 million electric cars during the year, almost double when compared to the past two years.
Baron Focused Growth Fund stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles (EVs), solar products, and energy storage solutions, while also developing advanced real-world AI technologies. Despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges and regulatory complexities, shares climbed after Tesla completed a limited commercial rollout of its highly anticipated robotaxi business in Austin—following more than a decade of development and billions of dollars in investment. This milestone signals a potentially transformative shift in the automotive industry and opens up a sizable new market beyond the company’s core operations. Investor sentiment also improved after Elon Musk stepped back from government-related engagements, boosting confidence in Tesla’s near-term execution. Tesla introduced a refreshed Model Y globally, featuring design and performance upgrades, and outlined plans to unveil new mass-market models starting next quarter. Meanwhile, the company is progressing toward scaling production of its humanoid robot, adding another dimension to its long-term growth story.”
Photo by Tesla Fans Schweiz on Unsplash
Tesla’s EV sales are falling all over the world as the company faces challenges from competitors. Tesla’s global sales in the second quarter fell 14% year over year. Even if Elon Musk increases his focus to fix the company’s problems, it would take a lot of effort to come out of the demand crisis. For example, in California, the largest U.S. market for electric vehicle adoption and sales, Tesla sales fell about 12% year over year in 2024, causing its market share to drop from 60.1% in 2023 to 52.5% in 2024. Was it because Californians are buying fewer EVs? No. Californians purchased more than 2 million electric cars during the year, almost double when compared to the past two years.
Baron Focused Growth Fund stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles (EVs), solar products, and energy storage solutions, while also developing advanced real-world AI technologies. Despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges and regulatory complexities, shares climbed after Tesla completed a limited commercial rollout of its highly anticipated robotaxi business in Austin—following more than a decade of development and billions of dollars in investment. This milestone signals a potentially transformative shift in the automotive industry and opens up a sizable new market beyond the company’s core operations. Investor sentiment also improved after Elon Musk stepped back from government-related engagements, boosting confidence in Tesla’s near-term execution. Tesla introduced a refreshed Model Y globally, featuring design and performance upgrades, and outlined plans to unveil new mass-market models starting next quarter. Meanwhile, the company is progressing toward scaling production of its humanoid robot, adding another dimension to its long-term growth story.”
Elon Musk under fire after sidestepping federal regulations to advance controversial project: 'Blatant disregard for democratic institutions'
Daniel Gala
Thu, September 18, 2025
Daniel Gala
Thu, September 18, 2025
TCD
Elon Musk under fire after sidestepping federal regulations to advance controversial project: 'Blatant disregard for democratic institutions'
Elon Musk is at it again.
This time, the divisive billionaire has deployed his army of well-funded lobbyists in an aggressive attempt to push politicians in Texas to award a massive flood-prevention contract to Musk's own The Boring Company, ProPublic reported in mid-September.
The intensive campaign has come despite concerns that The Boring Company's proposal does not adequately fit the project's needs and doubts raised by the company's lengthy history of failed projects.
Elon Musk under fire after sidestepping federal regulations to advance controversial project: 'Blatant disregard for democratic institutions'
Elon Musk is at it again.
This time, the divisive billionaire has deployed his army of well-funded lobbyists in an aggressive attempt to push politicians in Texas to award a massive flood-prevention contract to Musk's own The Boring Company, ProPublic reported in mid-September.
The intensive campaign has come despite concerns that The Boring Company's proposal does not adequately fit the project's needs and doubts raised by the company's lengthy history of failed projects.
What's happening?
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused devastating flooding across Houston. In the years since, experts have explored ways to prevent the catastrophe from happening again.
The potential solution that has gained the most momentum would involve a series of massive underground pipes, 30 to 40 feet in diameter, which would whisk excess water away from the city before releasing it into the ocean, according to a previous ProPublica report. The proposed project has been estimated to cost as much as $760 million.
Unsurprisingly, Musk has smelled an opportunity, with the Musk-run The Boring Company aggressively lobbying state and local lawmakers with an alternative vision that would involve only two pipes measuring just 12 feet in diameter.
While The Boring Company and its allies have attempted to pitch the company's proposal as an innovative, cost-saving solution, experts have criticized the company's plan as insufficient to protect Houston from disastrous floods.
"If you build a smaller tunnel, okay, it'll be cheaper, but it can carry less water," said Larry Dunbar, a longtime water-resources engineer in the Houston area, per ProPublica. "So what have you saved? Have you reduced the flooding upstream by an inch? And are you going to spend multimillions of dollars doing that? Well, maybe that's not worth it."
Like Musk himself, The Boring Company has a long history of overpromising and underdelivering.
Despite proposals to dig hundreds of miles of tunnels in cities including Chicago, Dubai, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Nashville, Washington D.C., and San José, the company has only broken ground on a single project located in Las Vegas, according to an August report by Bloomberg.
Even there, the company has only completed eight out of the 68 city-approved miles of tunnels, with only four of those miles being operational, per Bloomberg. And, despite lavish promises of superfast, revolutionary "hyperloop" transport, those travelling in the completed tunnels do so in standard Tesla EVs.
"Nearly a decade after Elon Musk launched Boring Co. with promises of ultra-fast hyperloop-powered transportation, the tunneling venture has little to show," reporter Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos wrote in Bloomberg.
The company's track record of disregarding environmental regulations and worker-safety rules also has raised concerns. A commissioner for Harris County — where Houston is located — argued that The Boring Company should not be involved in the flood-mitigation project given Musk's "blatant disregard for democratic institutions and environmental protections," according to ProPublica's mid-September report.
However, these monumental and well-documented failures have not stopped Musk and his band of acolytes from pushing for The Boring Company to be the contractor of choice for the new flood-mitigation tunnels in Houston.
Why is it important?
As rising global temperatures cause extreme weather events like hurricanes to become more severe, cities around the world are racing to improve their infrastructure in the hopes of mitigating the devastation caused by natural disasters.
However, The Boring Company's push to take over the Houston-area tunnel project has exposed the risk that opportunistic companies and individuals will see these projects as a chance to line their own pockets with public funds while doing little, if anything, to make conditions safer for residents.
With human lives, homes, food supplies, and livelihoods on the line, the end result could be far more costly than even the millions — if not billions — in wasted tax dollars.
What's being done about it?
By exposing the efforts of Musk, The Boring Company, and their cronies to capitalize on well-intentioned and important projects, journalistic outlets like ProPublica, Bloomberg, and others have helped to bring transparency to the otherwise opaque, behind-the-scenes processes by which such decisions are often made.
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused devastating flooding across Houston. In the years since, experts have explored ways to prevent the catastrophe from happening again.
The potential solution that has gained the most momentum would involve a series of massive underground pipes, 30 to 40 feet in diameter, which would whisk excess water away from the city before releasing it into the ocean, according to a previous ProPublica report. The proposed project has been estimated to cost as much as $760 million.
Unsurprisingly, Musk has smelled an opportunity, with the Musk-run The Boring Company aggressively lobbying state and local lawmakers with an alternative vision that would involve only two pipes measuring just 12 feet in diameter.
While The Boring Company and its allies have attempted to pitch the company's proposal as an innovative, cost-saving solution, experts have criticized the company's plan as insufficient to protect Houston from disastrous floods.
"If you build a smaller tunnel, okay, it'll be cheaper, but it can carry less water," said Larry Dunbar, a longtime water-resources engineer in the Houston area, per ProPublica. "So what have you saved? Have you reduced the flooding upstream by an inch? And are you going to spend multimillions of dollars doing that? Well, maybe that's not worth it."
Like Musk himself, The Boring Company has a long history of overpromising and underdelivering.
Despite proposals to dig hundreds of miles of tunnels in cities including Chicago, Dubai, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Nashville, Washington D.C., and San José, the company has only broken ground on a single project located in Las Vegas, according to an August report by Bloomberg.
Even there, the company has only completed eight out of the 68 city-approved miles of tunnels, with only four of those miles being operational, per Bloomberg. And, despite lavish promises of superfast, revolutionary "hyperloop" transport, those travelling in the completed tunnels do so in standard Tesla EVs.
"Nearly a decade after Elon Musk launched Boring Co. with promises of ultra-fast hyperloop-powered transportation, the tunneling venture has little to show," reporter Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos wrote in Bloomberg.
The company's track record of disregarding environmental regulations and worker-safety rules also has raised concerns. A commissioner for Harris County — where Houston is located — argued that The Boring Company should not be involved in the flood-mitigation project given Musk's "blatant disregard for democratic institutions and environmental protections," according to ProPublica's mid-September report.
However, these monumental and well-documented failures have not stopped Musk and his band of acolytes from pushing for The Boring Company to be the contractor of choice for the new flood-mitigation tunnels in Houston.
Why is it important?
As rising global temperatures cause extreme weather events like hurricanes to become more severe, cities around the world are racing to improve their infrastructure in the hopes of mitigating the devastation caused by natural disasters.
However, The Boring Company's push to take over the Houston-area tunnel project has exposed the risk that opportunistic companies and individuals will see these projects as a chance to line their own pockets with public funds while doing little, if anything, to make conditions safer for residents.
With human lives, homes, food supplies, and livelihoods on the line, the end result could be far more costly than even the millions — if not billions — in wasted tax dollars.
What's being done about it?
By exposing the efforts of Musk, The Boring Company, and their cronies to capitalize on well-intentioned and important projects, journalistic outlets like ProPublica, Bloomberg, and others have helped to bring transparency to the otherwise opaque, behind-the-scenes processes by which such decisions are often made.
However, without pushback from the public, and in particular voters, no amount of journalistic truth-telling or fact-finding will make a difference.
In order to push for more effective policies, you can use your voice, contact your elected representatives, and vote for candidates who will do what is best for all of their constituents, not just billionaires.
In order to push for more effective policies, you can use your voice, contact your elected representatives, and vote for candidates who will do what is best for all of their constituents, not just billionaires.
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