Tesla (TSLA.US) may pick up positive results after surging 18% in August! Cybercab makes an intense appearance in the Austin Robotaxi story to welcome the cash out moment

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Tesla's (TSLA.US) stock price surged by more than 18% in August, outperforming many US and Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. The recent rise in Tesla's stock price comes before the company is about to hold an autonomous taxi Cybercab launch event on September 3. And with this gold-coated autonomous vehicle popping up on the streets of Austin one after another, related sightings are increasing at an accelerated pace.

According to reports, on August 22, Tesla announced on the X platform that it will hold a Cybercab launch event on September 3, local time in Austin, Texas. This model, designed for fully driverless driving, has no steering wheel or brake pedal. It is Tesla's first Robotaxi special model. It is expected to join the Austin team and gradually change the current model of operation dominated by Model Y. According to a previous report by The Information, Tesla plans to proceed in two steps: first provide Cybercab rides to employees on public roads, then officially open it to the public a few days later.

Tesla has completed a number of preparations before the official launch. Since June, Cybercab has been tested on public roads in many parts of the US, including Austin; in July, the company began to let employees test ride on private roads in the Austin campus and gather feedback. This is similar to the process before Robotaxi went live last year. Meanwhile, Tesla also recently trained first responders in Austin to guide them on how to handle and move vehicles in emergency situations.

Since the Cybercab does not have a steering wheel or brake pedal, once there is a problem with the autonomous driving system, the interior of the car cannot be taken over by a human driver. Tesla said the company is equipped with a remote operator who can intervene in an emergency.

This also raises regulatory issues. As a reference, Zoox, a subsidiary of Amazon (AMZN.US), was only approved by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in July of this year. The same vehicles without steering wheels and pedals can be used to carry commercial passengers. Previously, it was only possible to test ride for free. It is currently unclear whether Tesla has received similar approval and whether Cybercab will directly carry out fee-charging operations.

Tesla investor and influencer Sawyer Merritt said on the X platform that Tesla also added 38 Cybercab vehicles to the Robotaxi fleet, bringing the total number of vehicles registered with the Texas Motor Vehicle Administration to 45. A video shared online showed multiple Cybercabs driving or docking in downtown Austin.

Sawyer Merritt also reported that Tesla expanded the Austin Robotaxi service area for the first time in 10 months. Its geofence (geofence) area expanded by about 9% to 264 square miles; in comparison, Dallas is 81 square miles, Miami is 31 square miles, Orlando is 26 square miles, Houston is 25 square miles, and Tampa is 24 square miles.

Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, also said earlier that he has seen Tesla Cybercab everywhere in downtown Austin, and this is the first time he has seen a number of related vehicles comparable to Waymo vehicles. Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy also shared a video of the vehicles and declared: “The streets will never be the same again.” And when an X platform user asked if Tesla was prepared for a “massive influx” of Cybercab into Austin, Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied: “Yes.”

At the same time, Tesla's electric vehicle business also showed signs of strong demand. Production capacity for the Model Y L Launch Series model was almost sold out in 2026, and the estimated delivery time for all configuration versions has now been extended to early 2027. Early demand for the longer wheelbase version of the Model Y may help Tesla balance the increasingly focused autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses while maintaining core automotive business operations.

Wall Street remains optimistic about Tesla's share price outlook. According to Koyfin's data, Wall Street's average price target for Tesla over the next 12 months is $390.09, which means there is still room for 6% increase from current levels. Of the 46 analysts covering Tesla, 6 gave a “strong buy” rating, 16 gave a “buy” rating, 19 recommended “hold”, 3 gave a “sell” rating, and 2 gave a “strong sell” rating; the overall consensus rating of analysts was “buy.”

However, Future Fund managing partner Gary Black believes that Wall Street anticipates that many autonomous driving companies will achieve autonomous driving operations without human supervision at roughly the same time, which may turn autonomous online car-hailing from a “winner-take-all” market into a commercialized market rather than one company having a monopoly advantage.

Gary Black said, “Wall Street analysts evaluate valuations based on their predictions of future earnings and cash flow, not based on where the first real number appears.” He compared the current forecast for a bullish Robotaxi market to a statement five years ago that Tesla would sell 20 million electric vehicles a year by 2030. He called the assumption “ridiculous” because it would require Tesla to take about 20% of the global electric vehicle market.