Autonomous Vehicles & Robotaxi

Tesla's third-quarter deliveries beat company-compiled analyst expectations by 5.3%, though they declined 2.1% from a year earlier, a drop partly cushioned by Q3 2025's tax credit boost. Seeking Alpha analyst Oliver Rodzianko said the biggest takeaway is that traditional EV demand remains resilient as Tesla pivots toward autonomous taxi services and humanoid robotics as its dominant operating models, while energy storage deployment numbers missed expectations. Rodzianko noted that Chinese rival BYD saw its battery-electric passenger-car sales rise 30.9% year-over-year in the third quarter, underscoring fierce competition in China. Analyst Alexander Grover argued the delivery number is a distraction, since Tesla's valuation assumes unsupervised self-driving at scale, and flagged that Alphabet's Waymo is running more than 500,000 paid driverless rides a week across 15 U.S. metros with LiDAR in its stack, while Tesla still does not disclose how many of its robotaxis run without a safety monitor.

Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter, easily surpassing expectations of roughly 461,000 vehicles. While deliveries still slipped 2% from the record 497,099 vehicles delivered a year ago, the sizable beat was encouraging amid lingering concerns over global EV demand. Tesla produced 464,391 vehicles during Q3, meaning deliveries exceeded production by more than 22,000 units, with Model 3 and Model Y vehicles accounting for 478,237 deliveries. Attention now turns to Tesla's full Q3 results, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21, after the market closes, with the Zacks Consensus projecting Q3 revenue of $27.61 billion, a roughly 2% year-over-year decline, and earnings of $0.45 per share versus EPS of $0.50 in the prior-year quarter. Tesla stock remains down more than 15% year-to-date and carries a forward P/E multiple of 200X at around $370 a share, the highest in the Mag 7, and lands a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Tesla produced over 464,000 vehicles and delivered over 486,000 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, while deploying 13.7 GWh of energy storage products. The Model 3 and Model Y accounted for 457,387 vehicles produced and 478,237 delivered, with the remaining 7,004 produced and 8,295 delivered coming from other models. Tesla will report its third quarter 2026 financial results after market close on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, followed by a live question and answer webcast at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. The company noted that vehicle deliveries and storage deployments represent only two measures of its financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly results.

Rivian Automotive plans to equip its first R2 vehicles with LiDAR and its internally developed RAP1 autonomy computer for employees by the end of 2026, while customer deliveries are now expected to begin in 2027, according to Electrek. The timeline marks a shift from the company's earlier communications, as Rivian introduced the third-generation RAP1 chip last December, rated at 1,600 sparse INT8 TOPS, and said at the time the technology would arrive in late 2026. The R2 launched in June without the new hardware, though a production-ready-looking R2 equipped with LiDAR was later spotted near Rivian's Irvine headquarters. Rivian VP of Investor Relations Chip Newcom said production of the RAP1 system will initially focus on the R2, with employees receiving the technology first before the rollout expands to customers in 2027, leaving the late 2026 target technically intact but initially applying only to employees. Rivian SVP of Autonomy and AI James Philbin said the rollout is expected to begin toward year-end, initially reaching early-adopter customers with R1 Gen 2 vehicles and later Gen 2 hardware revisions, including fleets Rivian classifies as Phase II and Phase III, with the company aiming to extend the technology across its full Autonomy+ fleet later next year. Separately, Lucid Group and Bolt have entered a strategic partnership to develop and launch autonomous mobility services across Europe, jointly developing an autonomous driving system-ready vehicle platform designed to support SAE Level 4 autonomous mobility, while France has begun testing two vehicles to evaluate Tesla's Full Self-Driving system after the Netherlands' road authority RDW provisionally approved it for Dutch roads in April.

Sell ratings on Tesla have fallen to 13.1% of 61 analyst recommendations, the lowest proportion since April 2023 and well below the 23.3% peak in January 2026, according to Bloomberg data cited in a GuruFocus report, as Wall Street grows more reluctant to bet against Elon Musk's push into artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving even with the stock down 21% this year. TipRanks data points the same way, with Sell ratings dropping from five in May to four in June, two in July and just one in both August and September. The retreat is not a full bullish turn, however: Hold ratings climbed to their highest share of overall recommendations in more than two years, rising from 34 in May to 44 in September. Franklin Templeton's Max Gokhman told Bloomberg there is a bit of a don't bet against Musk vibe, noting that after long periods of missing deadlines a moonshot may materialize. The key test remains whether Tesla can turn its AI ambitions into meaningful revenue, and JPMorgan analyst Rajat Gupta recently cut his price target to $415 from $445 while keeping a Neutral rating, citing weaker-than-expected deliveries in China and the U.S.; the firm now expects 482,000 third-quarter deliveries, down from 516,000 previously, and 1.78 million vehicles in fiscal 2027.

XPENG delivered 41,256 vehicles in September 2026, a 5% increase over the prior month, with monthly deliveries of the XPENG L03 exceeding 10,000 units. For the third quarter of 2026, the company delivered a total of 118,390 vehicles, marking a 15% increase over the previous quarter. On September 17, 2026, XPENG officially launched the G9L, a premium flagship SUV featuring its latest technologies, in China, with a global launch set for Paris, France, in October. On September 22, 2026, XPENG began rolling out XOS 6.3.0 in China, powered by the latest version of its VLA 2.0 model. As of September 30, 2026, XPENG's self-operated charging network in China covered more than 430 cities and comprised over 4,000 stations, including more than 3,510 ultra-fast charging stations, with over 22,200 charging piles in total, and on September 15, XPENG opened its first-ever X-Energy megawatt ultra-fast charging station in Hong Kong.

Li Auto Inc. announced it delivered 31,817 vehicles in September 2026, bringing its cumulative deliveries to 1,833,651 as of September 30, 2026. In September, the company delivered over 10,000 units of the new Li L6 and expanded its battery electric vehicle lineup with the launches of the new Li MEGA Home and Li i9 Home. Li Auto also rolled out MACH VLA 2.0 via an over-the-air update to nearly one million Li AD Max vehicles powered by the Orin-X and Thor chips. In October, the company will launch the new Li i6 and make its debut in Europe at the Paris Motor Show, where it will introduce the Li i6 to the European market. As of September 30, 2026, Li Auto had 485 retail stores in 160 cities and 532 servicing centers and authorized servicing shops operating in 217 cities, along with 4,188 super charging stations equipped with 23,077 charging stalls in China.

Tesla has obtained $30 billion in bank credit facilities, a financing package that includes a $20 billion three-year delayed-draw term loan, an $8 billion five-year revolving credit facility, and a $2 billion 364-day revolver. The electric-vehicle maker said it does not currently plan to draw on the facilities in 2026, and the new arrangements raise its minimum liquidity requirement to $5 billion from $1 billion. Longtime Tesla bear GLJ Research analyst Gordon Johnson focused on the $20 billion delayed-draw facility, whose pledges drop to $10 billion on Sept. 29, 2027, and $5 billion on Dec. 29, 2027, before ending in March 2028, suggesting 2027 could be crucial for Tesla's financing needs as it invests in AI infrastructure, production, and vehicles. Tesla anticipates capital expenditures to top $25 billion this year, requiring more than $16.7 billion in the second half after $8.28 billion in the first, while its cash and short-term investments fell to $43.52 billion in June from $44.7 billion in March and second-quarter capital expenditures outpaced operating cash flow by $1.1 billion. Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management bought 48,352 Tesla shares for $17.1 million through the ARK Innovation ETF at Tuesday's closing price, when the stock closed down 1.3% and was on track for a 4% September drop.

DoorDash announced a slate of new products at its Dash Forward 2026 event, including text-based ordering, a custom drone delivery system called DoorDash Air, a restaurant growth platform called DashOS, and new AI tools for its delivery workers. U.S. consumers on iOS can join a waitlist starting today to try ordering by text in beta, an extension of the company's in-app Ask DoorDash assistant. DoorDash Air will pilot first in Northern California with partners including Chipotle and Popeyes, and the company says about 80% of today's typical DoorDash restaurant orders are light and small enough for the aircraft to carry safely, with initial tests showing delivery times from restaurant to customer door averaging under 5 minutes. The company is also bringing brands including Macy's, Anthropologie, The North Face, Vans and Timberland to its marketplace, and said Dasher Returns, which charges consumers a flat $7.99 fee per eligible return, is live in select cities and expected to roll out nationwide in November. DashOS connects DoorDash's tools across Marketplace, direct ordering, reservations, loyalty, guest management and marketing, while the new DashBuddy assistant has already been used by over 200,000 Dashers and has resolved about 95% of questions from Dashers signing up or preparing for their first dash. DoorDash also introduced a connector for corporate ordering built on the Model Context Protocol, with companies able to join the beta waitlist starting September 30.

Tesla will report third quarter delivery numbers at the end of the week, with Wall Street expecting 463,000 vehicles per Bloomberg consensus, down sequentially from the second quarter and a 6.8% drop from the 497,000 units delivered a year ago. JPMorgan lowered its own Q3 estimate to 482,000 units, citing weakness in China and the US, after analyst Rajat Gupta noted that July-August China wholesale volumes including exports rose 19% year over year while domestic retail sales are estimated to have fallen 21%. The year-ago quarter included the last US EV sales benefiting from the $7,500 federal tax credit, though Tesla appears to have gained US market share, European sales have improved, and Giga Shanghai is exporting more vehicles to other markets. Tesla also delayed its Roadster reveal, originally slated for Thursday, October 1, to October 15, citing severe weather conditions that make an outdoor event impossible. The reveal could include a demonstration of a limited-edition version equipped with cold-gas thrusters developed with SpaceX, according to The Information. Tesla announced the successor Roadster in 2017, took reservations with high deposits, and originally said deliveries would begin in 2020.

Investor Ross Gerber has renewed his criticism of Tesla, questioning management's focus on autonomous driving and robotics projects relative to near-term car demand and brand investment, and faulting the company's lack of advertising despite high gasoline prices. Analysts and traders are watching Tesla's upcoming vehicle delivery report, with market expectations pointing to a year-on-year decline. Gerber's pushback does not rewrite the current bull case, which leans on high-margin autonomy, FSD subscriptions and Energy Generation and Storage, but it sharpens the fault line over whether management attention stays locked on long-dated projects like robotaxis and humanoid robots while near-term car demand and brand building go under served. The clearest test will be the upcoming delivery print and what Tesla says immediately after it about demand trends, advertising plans, and autonomy or robotics spending. A shift toward concrete commentary on marketing, order intake and how much capital is flowing to autonomy versus the core auto and energy businesses would pull the balance back toward the bull side.

BlackBerry Limited reported fiscal second-quarter results in which its QNX unit posted record revenue of $80.3 million, up 27% year-over-year, with gross margin of 87% and adjusted EBITDA of $29 million, up 41% at a 36% margin. The quarter's largest data point was Coretura, the Volvo Group and Daimler Truck joint venture, selecting BlackBerry's Alloy Kore platform for its next-generation commercial vehicles, the largest QNX contract in company history, expected to add more than $100 million to the royalty backlog. Management raised its full-year QNX revenue outlook for the second consecutive quarter to $315 million to $325 million, and BlackBerry posted its sixth straight quarter of positive GAAP net income, ending with $447.1 million in cash. By contrast, the Secure Communications segment grew just 2% year-over-year to $60.9 million, a sharp deceleration from the first quarter's 24% growth to $73.6 million, and its adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 13% from 27% a year earlier. Management preemptively cut full-year Secure Communications guidance to $260 million to $270 million, citing rising Canada-US trade tension risk given the segment's large U.S. federal footprint, while acknowledging no material impact or pipeline slowdown outside North America has yet been seen. Canaccord lowered its price target to $9.50 from $10.30 while keeping a Hold rating, and the in-line third-quarter revenue guide of $143 million to $154 million, rather than the QNX beat, drove the stock's roughly 3% slide.

A major German automaker has selected neueHCT's QNX-powered HCT Luna High-Performance Smart Camera Solution for a global passenger vehicle platform launching in China, with production set to begin in 2027 and projected volumes of several million units within the first three years. The program, announced by QNX, a division of BlackBerry Limited, and neueHCT, the intelligent driving company jointly established by Horizon Robotics and AUMOVIO, extends across Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, establishing a foundation for further global expansion. The win marks the first major global program for the HCT Luna High-Performance Smart Camera Solution powered by QNX, moving the product from individual vehicle applications to large-scale deployment across multiple platforms and models. Built on Horizon Robotics' Journey 6B automotive compute platform and powered by QNX OS for Safety 8.0, the solution will be deployed in vehicles sold in China and multiple international markets. Simon Zhang, COO of neueHCT, said securing the win demonstrates that the company's solution has met the technical standards required by global OEMs, while John Wall, President at QNX, said the program shows the role QNX OS for Safety 8.0 can play in scaling advanced driver assistance capabilities across platforms, models and markets.

AIxCrypto has agreed to acquire the $200M robotics arm of Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. and will evolve into a pure-play robotics ecosystem company under the new name FF EAI Robotics Ecosystem Inc. The company's ticker will change from AIXC to FFR, and Faraday Future will become the majority shareholder of the new company, continuing to participate in the robotics business's potential value appreciation through its ownership interest. As part of the transition, Faraday Future will expand from an EV manufacturer to a robotaxi and EAI cabin technology operator, potentially connecting with Tesla's Cybercab network and bringing its EAI cabin technology to other smart vehicles. FFAI plans to adopt an upgraded operating model inspired by Berkshire Hathaway and Alphabet and expects to announce additional strategic upgrade plans for the new FFAI in the near term.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, together with Chayatan Phromsorn, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, and a delegation of executives, met with Masahiko Maeda, Chief Executive Officer for the Asia Region of Toyota Motor Corporation, to hear about the direction of automotive technology development and future mobility innovation, and to exchange views on cooperation in applying technology to suit Thailand's transport systems. In this discussion, Toyota presented its concept of transforming from an automaker into a mobility company, under the approach of mobility for all and carbon neutrality, remaining open to a wide range of energy technologies, including hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, biofuel, hydrogen and fuel cells. It also presented autonomous driving technology that aims to reduce road accidents to zero through the combined work of in-vehicle technology, artificial intelligence, sensors, road users and infrastructure, as well as the development of the e-Palette automated shuttle, robotaxis, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft known as eVTOL, and the Mobility Service Platform concept. Phiphat proposed that Toyota consider Thailand's potential as an agricultural country, which in addition to electrical energy also has raw materials from sugarcane, cassava and palm that can be developed into biofuel. He also invited Toyota to continue using Thailand as an important production and investment base, and invited Toyota executives to hold ongoing discussions with the Thai government, with the Ministry of Transport ready to coordinate cooperation and support the exchange of information among relevant agencies. Toyota stated that the key obstacle for hydrogen and fuel cells at present is the cost of hydrogen, which remains high, and that the major challenge is enabling hydrogen to be produced and supplied at a price suitable for practical use in the future.

Chinese autonomous driving software developer Momenta announced on the 28th that it has agreed to cooperate with the joint venture of European and American automaker Stellantis to develop advanced driver assistance technology. Momenta signed a global strategic partnership on the 24th to cooperate on autonomous driving technology with Dongfeng Stellantis Automotive Technology (Wuhan) and two brands under Stellantis. The two companies will jointly develop advanced driver assistance systems for newly mass-produced Peugeot and Jeep models, and the new technology will be introduced in China, Europe, and other markets, supporting Stellantis's global smart mobility strategy through its main brands. Stellantis established a joint venture with Dongfeng in August to compete with Chinese rivals. This partnership further advances Momenta's business expansion beyond its main customer, a German luxury carmaker. Momenta's driver assistance software has been used in public road driving in more than 1.2 million vehicles to date.

Leading auto parts maker Joyson Electronics recently held an earnings briefing, saying its intelligent driving business is gradually entering the stage of mass production and delivery, and has already entered the supply chain systems of leading domestic and overseas companies. According to the company's semi-annual report, in the first half of 2026 the intelligent driving business entered mass production and delivery, with domestic and global customer project nominations being advanced at full speed. Overseas, the company has secured mass production project nominations and project validation cooperation from European, Japanese and Korean original equipment manufacturers, and its products will serve global markets including Europe and Asia. In the intelligent computing center field, in response to the higher requirements that AI data centers place on highly reliable power supply and distribution, energy management, thermal management and system integration, the company is accelerating the development of products and integrated solutions such as AC/DC power conversion units, high-power DC/DC power conversion units, fully immersed liquid-cooled power cabinets, and coolant distribution units. Huatai Securities is optimistic that the company's intelligent driving business is gradually entering the mass production stage, while new businesses such as emerging intelligent agents and AI data centers continue to expand, which is expected to open up long-term growth space. Guotai Haitong Securities expects that strategic emerging industries such as emerging intelligent agents are likely to create a brand-new growth curve for the company.

Amazon.com Inc. has raised its 2026 capital-spending forecast to about $220 billion, driven largely by investments in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure, and recently announced plans to extend over $100 million to establish an advanced manufacturing site in Indiana. The company plans to roll out more than 20,000 AI Smart Delivery Glasses by the end of 2027 and to deploy two million additional GPUs in collaboration with NVIDIA, including Blackwell Ultra, Rubin, and Rubin Ultra GPUs launching during 2027 and 2028, after planning around one million GPUs in 2026. In the second quarter of 2026, Amazon delivered $200.6 billion in total revenues, a 20% increase from the same period last year. Its £4.25 billion pound-denominated bond offering highlights its growing use of debt markets, as major cloud providers have collectively sold close to $220 billion in debt over the last twelve months. Institutional sentiment remains strong, with 369 hedge funds holding positions by the end of Q2 2026 versus 353 in Q1 2026, and short interest at 0.85%.