Tesla to reveal robotaxi on August 8th

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is pushing up in extended hours on Friday after Elon Musk said the much-awaited robotaxi will be revealed on August 8^th.

What a robotaxi may mean for Tesla stock

The launch of a robotaxi could deliver the required boost to $TSLA that’s been under immense stress lately due to the ongoing slowdown in its core electric vehicles market.

Earlier this week, Michelle Schneider of Marketgauge.com said Tesla stock could 'break down from here' without an innovation as Invezz reported here.

It is worth mentioning here that the company’s billionaire chief executive previously said that Tesla will have more than 1 million robotaxis on the U.S. roads by 2020 – a promise that evidently did not pan out.

Shares of Tesla Inc are currently down more than 30% versus the start of this year.

Where does $TSLA stand in self-driving at present?

A Tesla vehicle does not currently have the ability to drive entirely by itself. Its ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) subscription is priced at $199 a month at writing.

Much like EVs, autonomous cars is also not a market where Elon Musk is unlikely to face a rather fierce competition. In fact, he'll be up against a number of prominent names in self-driving like Alphabet-backed Waymo and General Motors-backed Cruise.

Also today, a Reuters report said the Nasdaq-listed firm has withdrawn from its plans of launching a low-cost car.

The automaker came in well below Street estimates for quarterly deliveries this week. Wall Street currently has a consensus "hold" rating on Tesla shares.