Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is trading around $475 on December 16, 2025, keeping the stock near the upper end of its recent range after Monday’s sharp move. As of 11:41 UTC, TSLA was $475.31, up about 3.5% versus the prior close. [1]
What’s driving the attention isn’t a new vehicle launch or a quarterly earnings surprise—it’s the same narrative that has increasingly dominated Tesla’s market value in 2025: autonomy. A fresh milestone in Tesla’s robotaxi testing has energized bulls, while skeptics point to valuation, regulatory scrutiny, and the simple fact that Tesla still makes most of its money the old-fashioned way—by selling cars. [2]
Below is a full roundup of the key TSLA stock news, analyst forecasts, and market analysis circulating on December 16, 2025, and what investors are watching next.
Why Tesla stock is moving: “unsupervised” robotaxi testing in Austin
Tesla shares surged Monday after CEO Elon Musk said the company is testing robotaxis without safety monitors in the front passenger seat—an important step because earlier trials relied on in-vehicle human oversight. Reuters reported TSLA rose as much as 4.9% to around $481.37, the highest level in nearly a year, as investors reacted to the autonomy update. [3]
The Verge added on-the-ground color: multiple Tesla vehicles were spotted operating autonomously in Austin without safety monitors, and Musk later confirmed autonomous testing had begun there. The Verge also noted Tesla has not released comprehensive safety data benchmarking its system against human driving—something that matters as the story shifts from “cool demo” to “public-road product.” [4]
Reuters also contextualized what “progress” means in Tesla terms: the company launched a limited, geo-fenced robotaxi service in Austin earlier in 2025 using modified Model Y vehicles with Full Self-Driving, and this latest phase signals movement toward broader deployment—especially as Tesla prepares for its Cybercab timeline. [5]
The bull case: Tesla as an AI + autonomy platform (not “just” an automaker)
A major reason TSLA trades like a tech stock is that investors increasingly value Tesla on its future autonomy and robotics revenue—more than on today’s EV margins. Reuters explicitly noted that a large part of Tesla’s valuation is tied to optimism around self-driving technology and humanoid robot ambitions, even though the bulk of revenue and profit still comes from EV sales. [6]
That framing got fresh oxygen from Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, one of Tesla’s most prominent bulls. MarketWatch reported Ives arguing Tesla could reach a $3 trillion valuation by the end of 2026, with a base price target of $600 (implying roughly a $2 trillion valuation), driven by AI, robotaxis, and autonomous tech progress. [7]
Interactive Brokers’ “Traders’ Insight” coverage echoed the same thrust: Ives describes 2026 as a potential “monster year,” with a path to $2 trillion market cap (and $3 trillion in a bullish scenario) as Tesla’s “AI chapter” takes hold. [8]
This is the central optimistic thesis for TSLA in late 2025: autonomy turns Tesla from a cyclical manufacturer into a platform business with software-like economics. Whether that leap is justified—on timelines, safety performance, and unit economics—is where the debate gets heated.
The skeptical case: valuation, competition, and the “proof gap”
Even on a day when robotaxi headlines are positive, Tesla’s critics aren’t exactly whispering.
Goldman Sachs: Neutral, $400 price target
On December 16, Investing.com reported Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating and a $400 price target after the robotaxi testing update—well below where TSLA is trading. Goldman’s core concern is not that autonomy is irrelevant, but that competition and scaling economics may limit profitability, even if the technology improves. [9]
The same report highlighted the valuation tension: TSLA hovering about 1% below a $488.54 52-week high, paired with metrics like a roughly 17% gross profit margin (per the report) and a very elevated P/E level. [10]
Trefis: “Tesla Stock To $330?”
A notably bearish analysis published December 16 by Trefis argued that TSLA’s recent run leaves the stock looking “unattractive,” suggesting $330 may not be out of reach and emphasizing “very high” valuation and weaker profitability factors in its multi-factor framework. [11]
You don’t need to accept Trefis’ specific number to understand why it resonates with skeptics: when a stock is priced for near-flawless execution, even “good news” can still be insufficient.
A middle ground: Mizuho turns more bullish
Not all major firms are leaning neutral-to-bearish. On December 16, MarketScreener reported Mizuho raised its Tesla price target to $530 from $475 and maintained an Outperform rating. [12]
Even without full note details publicly available, the direction matters: while some analysts see TSLA as fully priced (or overpriced), others are still marking targets higher—often because autonomy progress can expand the valuation framework.
The numbers problem: consensus targets still imply downside
A key detail many retail investors miss in headline-driven markets: a stock can be “hot” while the average analyst target still points lower.
MarketBeat’s December data shows:
- Consensus rating: Hold
- Average 12‑month price target:$399.33
- High target: $600
- Low target: $19.05 [13]
StockAnalysis.com shows a similar picture from a different dataset slice, listing an average target around $396 and also showing the street-high target at $600. [14]
In plain English: even after the robotaxi rally, the “average” analyst still doesn’t think TSLA is a bargain at ~$475—but the spread between bullish and bearish views is enormous, reflecting how much hinges on autonomy’s path.
Cathie Wood’s ARK sells some shares—but keeps the long-term moonshot
Another widely circulated TSLA headline today: ARK Invest trimmed Tesla shares.
Barron’s reported ARK sold a small number of TSLA shares across two ETFs (including ARKK and ARKW), but framed it as routine portfolio management rather than a reversal. ARK still has Tesla as a top position, and Cathie Wood remains highly bullish with a long-term price target of $2,600 by 2029, largely tied to robotaxi upside. [15]
This matters less for Tesla’s fundamentals and more for sentiment: TSLA is still a stock where influential investors are willing to publish extreme long-horizon outcomes—something that’s rare in “normal” large-cap equities.
FSD v14: improving product, still supervised—and still under scrutiny
Autonomy enthusiasm isn’t driven only by investor imagination; it’s also pushed by product iteration.
Barron’s reported on testing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14, describing meaningful improvements versus earlier versions and citing crowdsourced data suggesting over 9,000 miles between critical disengagements. The same piece emphasized that FSD still requires driver supervision and that autonomy progress is central to Tesla’s $1.5T-plus valuation narrative. [16]
Regulatory scrutiny is the other side of that coin. In October, Reuters reported NHTSA opened a probe into about 2.88 million Tesla vehicles over reported traffic violations and crashes linked to FSD use, underscoring the high stakes of deploying increasingly capable automation into messy real-world driving. [17]
Competition check: Waymo is already scaling paid robotaxi rides
Tesla’s autonomy story exists in a crowded arena.
Reuters noted Alphabet’s Waymo leads with 2,500+ commercial robotaxis and around 450,000 paid rides per week (as cited in media reporting), a scale Tesla hasn’t matched commercially yet. [18]
The Verge reported Waymo said it delivered over 14 million paid rides in 2025 and plans major expansion—while pointing out Tesla still hasn’t published robust safety performance data in the same way. [19]
The market implication is blunt: Tesla is being valued as though it can win (or co-win) robotaxis. But the “proof bar” is rising because competitors are already operating at scale.
Corporate governance headline: Tesla board stock awards under spotlight
Alongside autonomy, another Tesla-related story in circulation is corporate governance.
Reuters reported an Equilar analysis showing Tesla’s board earned more than $3 billion through stock awards that far outstripped peers, with specific large gains attributed to directors including Kimbal Musk and others. Reuters also reported Tesla said its director compensation is not excessive and is tied to shareholder value creation, while governance experts criticized the structure as potentially undermining independence. [20]
For TSLA shareholders, this isn’t a “tomorrow morning” catalyst in the way robotaxi headlines can be—but it’s part of the long-running question of oversight, incentives, and risk-taking at Tesla.
Macro backdrop on Dec. 16: jobs data and rate expectations still matter
Tesla is also a high-multiple stock that tends to react to rate expectations.
Reuters reported U.S. stock futures were down Tuesday as markets braced for a key jobs report, with investors increasingly “data-dependent” on labor market signals after a shutdown disrupted official data flow. The same Reuters report noted markets pricing in rate cuts next year and highlighted ongoing sensitivity to interest-rate expectations. [21]
For TSLA, that matters because the higher the valuation multiple, the more sensitive the stock can be to changes in discount rates and risk appetite—especially when the story is about future cash flows (robotaxis/AI) rather than present cash flows.
What TSLA investors are watching next
Based on today’s news and analyst notes, the next “make-or-break” proof points for Tesla stock cluster around a few themes:
- Robotaxi scaling and economics: Goldman (as reported by Investing.com) is focused on how quickly Tesla can scale driverless operations and whether the service can be profitable—especially amid competition. [22]
- Geographic expansion: The Goldman note also references Tesla’s stated ambition to expand robotaxi availability to multiple metro areas and remove safety observers—milestones investors will treat as “real progress” rather than hype. [23]
- Cybercab timeline credibility: Reuters reported investors expect Tesla to intensify testing as it prepares for Cybercab-related plans. [24]
- Regulatory trajectory: Ongoing oversight of FSD and any autonomy-related investigations can alter timelines, costs, and public perception. [25]
- Core EV demand and margins: Even with autonomy excitement, Tesla still needs the vehicle business to carry near-term results—especially if autonomy monetization takes longer than bulls expect. [26]
Bottom line (for Dec. 16, 2025): Tesla stock is being pulled forward by robotaxi momentum and bullish “AI platform” narratives, but pushed back by valuation math, competition reality, and regulators who will demand evidence—not vibes.
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.theverge.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.marketwatch.com, 8. www.interactivebrokers.com, 9. www.investing.com, 10. www.investing.com, 11. www.trefis.com, 12. www.marketscreener.com, 13. www.marketbeat.com, 14. stockanalysis.com, 15. www.barrons.com, 16. www.barrons.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.theverge.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.reuters.com, 22. www.investing.com, 23. www.investing.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.reuters.com
