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The electric vehicle revolution is just heating up for some automakers, but Tesla (TSLA), a pioneer in the space, has a “soup of things” going for it that will likely propel the company and its bottom line higher.
“There’s this huge opportunity curve out there [for Tesla],” Bank of America senior auto analyst John Murphy shared with Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi on the Opening Bid podcast (video above; listen in below). “[Or a] frontier of all these things that can go right potentially for the company.”
One of those potential growth opportunities is a fleet of robotaxis Tesla has dubbed Cybercabs.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently reported surprisingly strong third quarter earnings and gave upbeat updates about coming initiatives, including the production timeline for the Cybercab.
The finished product — showed off earlier this month at a glitzy evening event at a Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, Calif. — will be a battery-powered autonomous robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. It is currently being beta tested in the Bay Area, where Tesla employees hail rides using an app and are taken from place to place in vehicles that still feature safety drivers.
Eventually, the safety driver will fade away as the Cybercab clears regulatory hurdles, leaving the vehicle to control and drive itself and snatch business way from Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT), and traditional cabs.
Once the vehicles are green-lit for safety and speed, Murphy said, they will likely revolutionize the way we travel.
Musk envisions producing 2 million to 4 million Cybercabs a year, he told analysts on the company’s latest earnings call.
“People start spreading out, and a lot of the real estate in the country that is underutilized could actually be utilized,” Murphy said. “You could create this great economic growth.”
As for highways, a speed-safe Cybercab could reduce travel times due to its ability to be both fast and safe. “The speed of travel is coming down,” he said, “because traffic is going up.”
If somebody could travel at double the speed, the “capacity utilization on the road gets cut in half and it creates more space.”
Murphy thinks the cars will start being used in 2025 in Texas, followed by California. Over time, the product stands to be a real moneymaker, per Murphy.
“[We’re] looking for over 20% earnings growth next year in 2026,” said Murphy, who rates Tesla’s stock a Buy.
Murphy added he is reevaluating his stock price of $265 amid the post-earnings surge in value.
Tesla stock has skyrocketed 22% in the last five trading sessions.
Despite Musk being considered controversial in some circles, his products have a longstanding fanbase and trajectory, bringing consumers solutions and innovations that can’t be ignored by investors. “I’ve never seen a company like this before,” said Murphy. “It’s pretty impressive.”
Murphy noted that Musk is “a real innovator, whether you like him or not, that is really shocking the world and bringing a lot to the table.”
Three times each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.
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