Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock rose as much as 5% after hours over the company’s promises of launching new and “more affordable” models in the first half of 2025, in addition to other promises regarding the deployment of autonomous vehicles and licensing of the company’s full self-driving (FSD) driver assistance software to rivals.
Licensing FSD: CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that it is in conversation with other automakers regarding licensing FSD. However, the company is only entertaining conversations where the deployment volume will be high, the CEO said.
The CEO also said that the company will not burden its engineering workforce with sharing the tech with another carmaker. The engineering team would instead focus on making the technology fully unsupervised, Musk said while adding that interest from rivals will likely surge once the technology can enable driverless driving.
Autonomous Ride-Hail Fleet Testing In Texas: The CEO also said that the company will start testing autonomous ride-hailing service in Texas in June with vehicles deployed with FSD. However, Musk has previously provided timelines for Tesla products that the company did not deliver. As far back as 2019, Musk said that he was confident about Tesla having operational robotaxis by 2020.
Musk also said on Wednesday that the company is looking to launch unsupervised FSD in California before the end of the year, while also expressing optimism for it being deployed in other regions.
FSD, as of date, requires active driver supervision.
Why It Matters: Tesla reported revenue, earnings per share, and gross profit margin for the fourth quarter that were below expectations on Wednesday.
However, the stock rose as much as 5% after-hours after Tesla said that the company is looking to start production of new models, including more affordable ones, in the first half of this year. Musk’s promises on FSD improvements this year also aided the rally.
Tesla stock has seen a jump since the election of Donald Trump as President in November. Trump and Musk recently forged a strong relationship with the billionaire supporting and funding the former’s election campaign.
The stock has more than doubled over the past year as of Wednesday’s closing share price of $389.10, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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