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• As per Kirk, neither the upcoming start of volume production for the Tesla Semi nor the hopes for a merger with Elon Musk’s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX will allow the stock to breach $500. 
• Tesla launched robotaxis with no safety monitors earlier this year in Austin.
• Currently, the company has about 500 Model Y vehicles operating as robotaxis across the Bay Area and Austin, Musk said during Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call in January.

Randy Kirk, the author who has written several books analyzing Elon Musk's business strategies, said on Tuesday that the only thing that can get Tesla Inc. (TSLA) stock back over the $500 threshold is scaling of its robotaxi fleet.

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Kirk said that scaling the number of robotaxis with no safety riders or drivers is the sole way the company will breach the mark. Expanding robotaxi services to more cities will help the goal, he said.

As per Kirk, neither the upcoming start of volume production for the Tesla Semi nor the hopes for a merger with Elon Musk’s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX will allow the stock to breach $500.

While a merger between SpaceX and Tesla would be “great” and Kirk sees it happening, it isn’t going to push the stock forward, he said. He also dismissed scaling in Optimus production as a rally driver, saying people are now waiting for robotaxi expansion and execution of unsupervised full self-driving in their vehicles.

Autonomous Robotaxis

Tesla launched robotaxis with no safety monitors earlier this year in Austin, marking a key step towards Musk’s ambitions of deploying autonomous vehicles in as much as half of the U.S. by year-end.

However, Tesla executive Ashok Elluswamy then clarified in a post on X that some vehicles in the company’s fleet will continue to have a safety monitor for the time being, although they will be reduced in time.

Currently, the company has about 500 Model Y vehicles operating as robotaxis across the Bay Area and Austin, Musk said during Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call in January. However, the company is being cautious while scaling the service, he added.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stock stayed within the ‘bearish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘normal’ levels.

TSLA stock has risen 21% over the past 12 months. 

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