Tesla Wants To Trade Its EV Crown for a Robot Dream and Wall Street Isn’t Buying It
TeslaTSLA doesn’t know if it wants to be a car company anymore — and that identity crisis is costing investors dearly. Vehicle deliveries were up 6% year-over-year but still missed expectations, in what Wedbush’s Dan Ives called an “underwhelming start” to the year. Adding salt to the wound, the stock is already down about 20% in 2026, making it the worst performer among the Magnificent Seven.
- JPMorgan’s Ryan Brinkman reiterated a Sell rating with a $145 target — implying a ~60% downside — and warned against expecting a near-term turnaround.
- ToyotaTM is stepping into the gap, planning seven US EV models by 2027 and targeting ~15% of the battery electric vehicle market.
The road gets bumpier: Tesla’s push into its Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus humanoid is beginning to sideline its core lineup, with plans to phase out models like the Model S and X to free up production. At the same time, demand is weakening as the EV tax credit disappears, interest rates stay high, and competition rises. William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer warned that Tesla is “actively sacrificing its EV business in favor of a fully autonomous future” — a bet that could drain the engine funding it.