Deepwater Asset Management's Managing Partner Gene Munster expects three vehicles to be announced at Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) upcoming robotaxi event slated for Oct. 10.
What Happened: Munster said in an appearance on CNBC on Wednesday that he expects the EV giant to announce a cheaper vehicle model priced around $25,000, a robotaxi, and a robovan at the event next week.
The event, he opined, is designed more like a launch party and will likely be light on details. However, Munster is looking forward to Tesla clarifying when it expects to ramp up production of its cheaper EV model.
Munster believes that the cheaper model is key to Tesla ramping up deliveries next year. However, Tesla has historically had long periods between launch and delivery, he noted.
"The one detail that I'm going to hyper-focused on is that cheaper $25,000 car... when they expect to ramp production. I want to put one thread through why this is important for next year, is that the Street is looking for growth to go from 7% in the most recent quarter to 12% next year. To get to 12 percent, you need to get that cheaper model starting to ramp in the middle of the year," he said.
While Munster would prefer Tesla to start production of the vehicle in mid-2025, he expects it to start around late 2025 or early 2026 given Tesla's previous delays.
Why It Matters: Tesla delivered 462,890 vehicles in the third quarter, marking an increase of 6.4% from the corresponding period last year.
However, the shares reacted negatively to the news, likely because the delivery numbers were still below whisper numbers.
Investors are now looking forward to the robotaxi event to give the stock a much-needed boost.
The robotaxi unveiling event was initially slated for Aug. 8. The company delayed it to Oct. 10 to make a few important changes aimed at improving the robotaxi and to give itself time to prepare a "couple of other things" to showcase at the event, company CEO Elon Musk said in July.
Price Action: Tesla shares closed down 3.36% at $240.66 on Thursday. The stock is 3.1% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro.
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