(Bloomberg) — Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. climbed in early trading after Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk offered few details on the carmaker’s plans for a self-driving vehicle service that could compete with ride-hailing.
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Uber’s stock jumped as much as 7% to hit an all-time high and Lyft’s advanced up to 8.3% on Friday after Musk’s unveiling of a robotaxi called Cybercab late Thursday in California. Tesla shares traded down as much as 10.2%.
Musk’s debut of the two-seat prototype and a Robovan concept that can transport as many as 20 people let down Tesla investors who were hoping for more specifics. While he said Cybercab production may start in 2026 and cost less than $30,000, the chief executive officer cautioned that he tends to be overly optimistic.
“We consider the event a best-case outcome for Uber,” said John Colantuoni, an equity analyst at Jefferies with a buy rating on the stock. In a report referring to Tesla’s taxi as “toothless,” he noted the company didn’t provide verifiable evidence of progress toward automated-driving features or quantify how many robotaxis it plans to make.
Thursday had been viewed as a “make or break night” for Tesla shares, according to Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading. The event had already been delayed by two months, and Tesla was under pressure to justify its high valuation and prove it can lead the industry in autonomous vehicle technology.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi offered a sober take on the future of autonomy earlier this week, saying he doesn’t see robotaxis becoming a significant portion of the company’s fleet for years. The technology is still not quite there, regulators are wary and costs won’t be competitive for a while, he told Bloomberg Green’s Zero podcast.
“Safety is job number one,” Khosrowshahi said. “We will then, I would say in the next three to seven years, start to focus on economics.”
–With assistance from Subrat Patnaik.
(Updates stock moves.)
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