TMTPOST -- Tesla Inc. shares closed more than 11.9% higher on Monday, registering their biggest daily gain since November 6, the day following the U.S. presidential election. Shares further rallied as investors that have been wary about the electric vehicle (EV) heavyweight felt relieved.
Credit：Tesla
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has formed a task force to investigate attacks aiming at Tesla, FBI director Kash Patel confirmed a report from New York Post earlier Monday. The report said the FBI is trying to nail the criminals setting fire to Tesla vehicles and charging stations. The bureau has received ported 48 accidents related to Tesla cars, dealerships and charging stations so far this month, per the report.
Patel in his post on X called violent activity toward Tesla “domestic terrorism”. “Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice,” he said in the post. Patel also said the FBI has taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate its response over the past few days, without providing details.
It was reported the newly-created 10-person FBI task force will operated in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Treasury Department. The announcement of the FBI task force came on the heels of multiple incendiary devices were found at a Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas, in which the company’s headquarters is located.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have all labeled the attacks against Tesla domestic terrorism. At an all-hands meeting with employees Thursday night, Musk described news about vandalism toward Tesla vehicles, showrooms and charging stations read like “Armageddon”, though he insisted the news are good for the company and urged employees to “hang onto your stock” because of the promising outlook.
Musk disclosed a milestone that Tesla has made 7 million vehicles globally, and predicted the overall output would top 10 million units next year. “It’s very difficult like for people in the stock market, especially those that look in the rearview mirror — which is most people — to imagine a future where suddenly a 10 million vehicle fleet has five to ten times the usefulness,” Musk touted his vision for autonomou vehicles.
"Autonomous Teslas will be everywhere. In five years probably we will have regulatory approval, I think globally, so you will have autonomous Teslas on every continent taking people on trips, and almost the entire fleet — which will pass 10 million vehicles next year — is capable of full autonomy," Musk said.
Tesla extended its shares rally after Musk showcased bright outlook for new initiatives including humanoid robot Optimus. He said Tesla will start production of Optimus this year with initial output target of around 5,000 robots, and aims to produce 50,000 robots in 2026, when the robot would be available for sale.
"This year we hope to make about 5,000 Optimus robots...but even 5,000 robots is the size of a Roman legion FYI. That's a scary thought, a legion of robots. I think we'll literally build a legion of robots this year, and maybe 10 legions next year? It's kind of a cool unit: units of legion," said Musk.
Musk said Tesla’s factory has already beginning preparation for production of Cybercub, the the full-electric self-driving vehicle also known as the Robotaxi, with the “unboxed” assembly technique, so it doesn’t look like a normal car manufacturing line, but “a really high-speed consumer electronics line.” "The line will move so fast that people can't even get close to it — I think it'll be able to produce a car, ultimately, in less than five seconds," Musk added.
As of March 10, Tesla shares have plunged more than 50% from their peak in December. However, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas earlier this month expressed upbeat on Tesla despite growing headwinds amid uncertainty of U.S. tariffs.
Jonas saw Tesla’s pullback a “buying opportunity for an embodied [artificial intelligence, or AI] compounder.” “We see Tesla as a long-term generational compounder within our coverage,” Jonas said in a note. He believed there are a few catalysts that could drive Tesla stocks higher, such as the robotaxi “unveil”, which Morgan Stanley expected between June and August, an AI/Humanoid Day showcasing Optimus developments, and the unsupervised version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced driver assistant.
Famous Tesla bull Cathie Wood later Monday saw Tesla stock price will race to $2,600 per share in five years. Wood, head of Ark Investment Management LLC, expected Tesla’s robotaxis will account for 90% of its value over that period, and the price was not factoring in the business of Optimus yet.
