Tesla IncRobotaxi progress is low with few units, safety drivers, limited permitting, and FSD v15 delayed to late 2026; Hardware 3 incompatibility unresolved.

Tesla's fundamentals are improving with vehicle sales accelerating 15% year-on-year, battery storage deployment reaching 11 gigawatt-hours and $3 billion in revenue, and auto gross margins recovering to 18.3%, but a Jefferies analyst warns that the stock trades 7% above the $375 price target despite EPS estimates being cut 23 to 40 percent versus consensus. The analyst notes low visible progress in ramping robotaxis, citing few additional units, safety drivers, limited permitting, and more tech delays, while Full Self-Driving v15 is delayed to late 2026 and Hardware 3 incompatibility remains unresolved. Humanoid announcements consist only of factory capacity construction work with no production milestones, and although no competitor is scaling quickly either, this suggests the entire category remains speculative. Meanwhile, cash burn is rising with capex guidance at $25 billion annually, and Jefferies estimates a cumulative cash burn of $7.8 billion across 2025 and 2026, even assuming a slower pace, while raising cumulative 2026 to 2028 EBIT by 11% on better-than-expected vehicle and storage economics. The SpaceX merger speculation compounds the narrative-reality gap, with the market pricing in an imminent combination and synergy upside that Jefferies treats only as longer-term optionality, not current valuation support.
Tesla IncRobotaxi progress is low with few units, safety drivers, limited permitting, and FSD v15 delayed to late 2026; Hardware 3 incompatibility unresolved.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc