这一走势标志着优步股价的巨大反转，过去一个月中上涨近22%，年初至今已上涨约38%。相比之下，另一家共享出行巨头Lyft(LYFT.US)的股价在周五也上涨了约10%。与之形成鲜明对比的是，特斯拉的股价在周五大幅下跌，今年以来已下跌超过11%，远远落后于标普500和纳斯达克指数，后者今年至今均上涨约22%。On Friday, Uber's stock price surged over 10.5%, reaching a new all-time high.
The highly anticipated Robotaxi (self-driving taxi) release by Tesla (TSLA.US) was initially considered a major threat to Uber's (UBER.US) ride-sharing business, but actually turned out to be bullish for Uber's stocks.
Prior to the Thursday press conference, investor excitement led to a continuous decline in Uber's stock price, especially showing weakness in early August and mid-September. However, in Friday's trading, as investors regained confidence in Uber's prospects in the autonomous driving car industry, Uber's stock price surged over 10%, reaching a new all-time high and leading the S&P 500 index higher.
This trend marks a significant turnaround for Uber's stock price, up nearly 22% in the past month and approximately 38% year-to-date. In contrast, another ride-sharing giant Lyft (LYFT.US) also saw a rise of about 10% on Friday. In stark contrast, Tesla's stock price plummeted on Friday, down over 11% year-to-date, lagging far behind the S&P 500 and NASDAQ indices, both of which have risen by about 22% year-to-date.
The discussions surrounding Tesla's much-anticipated 'autonomous driving taxi' (cybercab) have gradually faded away due to the company's failure to provide detailed insights into its latest fully automated driving technology progress or its strategic and economic models for ride-sharing services, leaving investors disappointed.
According to the Financial Intelligence APP, Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni pointed out in Friday's report: 'Although Tesla has put forward ambitious goals, there is hardly any sign of feasibility.'
Colantuoni also noted that Tesla did not provide verifiable evidence to demonstrate its progress towards L3 autonomous driving technology, making it difficult for outsiders to assess the feasibility of its goals presented at the conference. Given the lack of precedent for achieving higher levels of autonomous driving solely through visual technology (without sensor fusion), there are still major challenges. He believes this will help reduce the ongoing impact of Tesla's Robotaxi plan on Uber's stocks.
Jefferies maintains a "buy" rating on Uber and sets the target stock price at $100.
Colantuoni also stated that the existence of Robotaxi may eventually expand Uber's total addressable market as increased supply will drive the introduction of low-priced self-driving cars, ultimately expanding the application scenarios for shared travel. Currently, Uber is the largest shared travel company in the world.
He added, "We believe that self-driving developers will eventually choose to collaborate with shared travel platforms rather than operate independently. We also believe that Uber has unique advantages in the shared travel field, which can help self-driving developers achieve sustainable growth by optimizing logistics, providing fleet management expertise, and complying with local regulations."
Although Tesla seems committed to independently developing its Robotaxi fleet without collaborating with existing shared travel platforms, Colantuoni believes that Tesla may eventually need to consider this option.
He noted that Tesla "might underestimate the obstacles to expanding its Robotaxi fleet", and without access to demand channels provided by Uber or Lyft, it may find it challenging to significantly expand its fleet business.
Bank of America analyst Justin Post also views Tesla's event as bullish for Uber, reaffirming a "buy" rating on Uber on Friday. Post believes that in the long run, Tesla, Google's Waymo, and several other self-driving competitors intensifying competition in California could benefit Uber, as Uber is expected to collaborate with multiple self-driving companies. He also speculates that in the future, owners of Tesla's "self-driving rental cars" may be able to add their vehicles to shared travel platforms like Uber or Lyft.
In a report to clients, Post wrote, "While investors may believe that Tesla's potential competition with Uber in the long term (over 5 years) has not changed much, we have long known that the prototype of self-driving rental cars is about to be launched, and this event lasted only 19 minutes, with fewer details and timelines than expected for Uber."
Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi also found Tesla's event "disappointing, lacking details", further reinforcing a bullish attitude towards other major self-driving developers.
Sacconaghi reiterated a "outperform" rating for Uber and a "market perform" rating for Lyft, believing that ride-sharing platforms can benefit from partnering with self-driving companies, over time, these platforms will add value to companies operating fixed fleets.
Lyft's stock price has dropped nearly 9% year to date, with less than a third of analysts rating it a "buy." According to FactSet's data, the average target price indicates about 6% potential upside.
