Tesla shares climbed to their highest level in nearly a year on Monday after CEO Elon Musk said the company is now testing its robotaxis without a human safety monitor in the front passenger seat—a milestone investors have been watching closely as Tesla pushes toward fully driverless service.
The stock rose as much as 4.9% to $481.37, just shy of the prior record close it hit on December 18, 2024 ($488.54), when optimism around looser self-driving rules under a Trump administration helped lift the name.
Tesla’s robotaxi testing takes another step
Musk said on X that testing is now happening “with no occupants in the car,” signaling Tesla is moving beyond the early phase of its pilot program and toward more autonomous operation.
That’s notable because Tesla’s initial robotaxi efforts have been intentionally constrained. When the company launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June, it used modified Model Y vehicles with Full Self-Driving enabled. Those early runs were geo-fenced and included a human “safety monitor” riding in the passenger seat.
Why Wall Street cares: the valuation story isn’t just EVs anymore
Tesla’s market capitalization has ballooned to roughly $1.53 trillion, and much of that value is tied to investor expectations that self-driving software—and eventually robotaxis—could become a major profit engine. But today, Tesla still earns the bulk of its revenue and profit from selling electric vehicles.
Morningstar senior equity analyst Seth Goldstein said the update aligns with expectations that Tesla is advancing its testing program in line with management’s prior commentary, and that “the market is cheering the progress.”
Cybercab timing and the bigger competitive picture
Investors are betting Tesla will accelerate testing and scale deployments as it prepares for the Cybercab launch in 2026. But Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions have repeatedly run into familiar headwinds: regulation, safety scrutiny, and the sheer technical difficulty of achieving reliable autonomy across real-world conditions.
Meanwhile, Waymo remains the clear U.S. leader in commercial deployment, with more than 2,500 robotaxis operating across major cities as of November. CNBC reported last week that Waymo is running about 450,000 paid rides per week, underscoring how far ahead it is in real-world service volume.