Austin, TX
Tesla Stock Surges After Successful Robotaxi Launch in Austin, Texas – Tokenist
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) jumped nearly 10% on Monday following the successful launch of its autonomous robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on Sunday. CEO Elon Musk announced that the service began operations with customers paying a flat fee of $4.20, marking a significant milestone in Tesla’s autonomous driving ambitions.
The launch puts Tesla in direct competition with Alphabet-backed Waymo (NASDAQ: GOOG), which already operates robotaxis in several cities across the United States.
Tesla Launches Robotaxi in Austin, Limited to Select Tesla Users
Tesla initiated its robotaxi service with 10-20 Model Y SUVs operating in a geofenced area of Austin, featuring safety teleoperators and Tesla employees who can intervene if necessary. The launch was limited to select invited Tesla users, with numerous riders on social media reporting successful trips, including one user who claimed to complete 11 separate rides without issues.
The vehicles are emblazoned with “Robotaxi” graphics and offer personalized features like Tesla account synchronization for streaming apps including Netflix, Spotify, and Disney+.
The robotaxi service represents a foundational step in Tesla’s autonomous vehicle strategy, with Wedbush analyst Dan Ives describing the experience as “comfortable, safe, and personalized” after taking two 15-minute test rides.
Ives particularly noted the vehicle’s ability to “masterfully maneuver with patience and safety” through challenging scenarios, including narrow roads with oncoming traffic and parked cars. The analyst maintains an outperform rating with a $500 price target, calling the launch “foundational” for Tesla’s future robotaxi ambitions.
However, scaling challenges remain significant, as competing with industry leader Waymo would require thousands of vehicles operating without safety operators, plus the infrastructure to clean and service the fleet. Barclays analyst Dan Levy cautioned against overoptimism, emphasizing that the path to scaling will be long and challenging, maintaining an equal weight rating with a $275 price target.
Join our Telegram group and never miss a breaking digital asset story.
Tesla Shares Gain Over 10%
Tesla shares were trading at $357.43 at the time of writing, gaining $35.27 or 10.95% in Monday trading, significantly outperforming the broader market. The stock opened at $327.52 and reached an intraday high of $357.47, with trading volume of 93.4 million shares compared to the average volume of 125.9 million. Year-to-date, Tesla stock remains down 11.49% despite today’s surge, while over the past year the stock has gained an impressive 95.31%.
The company’s market capitalization now stands at $1.151 trillion, with current valuation metrics showing a trailing P/E ratio of 205.42 and a forward P/E of 166.67. Tesla’s financial fundamentals include revenue of $95.72 billion over the trailing twelve months, with a profit margin of 6.38% and diluted earnings per share of $1.74. The company maintains a strong balance sheet with $37 billion in total cash and relatively low debt-to-equity ratio of 17.41%.
Wall Street analysts remain divided on Tesla’s prospects, with price targets ranging from a low of $115 to a high of $500, averaging $301.97. The robotaxi launch has reinforced bullish sentiment among Tesla supporters, while skeptics continue to question the company’s ability to scale autonomous operations safely and profitably against established competitors like Waymo, which recently reached 10 million trips.
Disclaimer: The author does not hold or have a position in any securities discussed in the article. All stock prices were quoted at the time of writing.
About the author
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird’s US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
AUSTIN, Texas – A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with murder for a deadly shooting at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Austin, police said.
What we know:
Police said on Monday, Jan. 5, around 6:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot at the Cambria Hotel at 68 East Avenue #824. The caller said a person had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found a man with injuries. He later died at the scene. He was identified as Luke Bradburn.
The investigation revealed that Bradburn drove and crashed a car that belonged to 20-year-old Maximillian Salinas. After the crash, Bradburn and the other people in the car left and went to the Cambria Hotel.
Salinas went to the hotel and shot Bradburn.
On Jan. 6, Salinas was arrested and charged with murder.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Austin Police at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.
The Source: Information from the Austin Police Department
Chants of “shame” and “ICE out of Texas” rang through the street as Austin-area activists joined thousands across the nation in protesting the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
The protest was held in front of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.
Good, 37, was shot in her SUV while attempting to drive away from several ICE officers who ordered her to exit her vehicle.
Scarleth Lopez with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization that led the protest, said the videos of the shooting in Minneapolis were “sickening.”
“Trump has lied and and said that Renee was a terrorist. She was a mother. She was an innocent bystander,” Lopez said. “We must organize to stop these people from kidnapping and murdering.”
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Elizabeth Bope, a retired Pflugerville ISD teacher, said the claims from federal and state lawmakers that Good was attempting to strike the ICE agent with her vehicle inspired her to attend the protest.
Such claims were posted online by Vice President J.D. Vance and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Attorney General Ken Paxton reposted a statement from DHS on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the ICE agent “relied on his training and saved his own life.”
“It’s beyond really any words that they killed this woman for no reason, but also that they’re lying about it,” Bope said. “I’m not even a radical left person, I’m just a regular old Democrat.”
Other key Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have not commented on the shooting.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Doug Tickner, who said he works for a home building company in Austin, said he felt it was important to show up in person for Good.
“I don’t really think of Minneapolis as being that far from here, and it’s not like what happened in Minneapolis was some sort of one off unique event,” Tickner said. “This is part of a pattern, and I feel folks better wake up and realize that this is becoming more and more serious.”
The news that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, broke hours before the protest.
The gathering in Pflugerville is among the first of four anti-ICE demonstrations planned across the Austin area over the next few days.
Earlier on Thursday, protesters gathered at the intersection of 45th Street and Lamar Boulevard during rush hour. A protest on Friday will be held at the Capitol and another will be held Saturday at City Hall.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
State and federal leaders are now sparring over who should conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, according to NPR.
Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which was originally asked to conduct a joint investigation with the FBI, said in a statement it was later told the investigation would be led solely by federal authorities.
AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas agency is concerned that the flesh-eating New World screwworm could be getting closer to Texas without commercial livestock movement.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is sounding the alarm again for livestock owners to remain vigilant in watching for signs of the parasite in their animals.
Screwworm sighting near Texas
The latest:
Miller said in a Thursday release that a screwworm had been detected in a cow in González, Tamaulipas, a little more than 200 miles from the southern Texas border.
According to the commissioner, the cow had no reported history of movement outside Tamaulipas, and is the third active case reported there.
Officials in Mexico have not reported a known population of the worm in Tamaulipas. They’re working with U.S. authorities to investigate further into the new case.
What they’re saying:
“The screwworm now may be moving closer on its own, with no apparent link to commercial animal movement,” Commissioner Miller said. “Texas producers must act now—stay informed, stay vigilant, and prepare immediately. We cannot drop our guard for even a moment.”
Inspect livestock for screwworm
What you can do:
Miller urged immediate action from ranchers along the Texas border.
“Inspect your animals daily,” Miller said. “Check every open wound. If anything looks suspicious, report it right away. Better a false alarm than a delayed response—early detection and rapid reporting are our strongest defenses against this devastating pest.”
U.S. plan to fight screwworm in Texas
Big picture view:
The threat to cattle has been deemed so potentially devastating to the U.S. food supply that the federal government is committing $850 million to fight it.
Most of that money will be spent on building a sterile male fly production facility near the border.
The facility will produce 300 million sterile male flies a week to be dropped into target areas where the screwworm is now. Those male flies help to reduce the population size through mating without reproducing.
A much smaller portion of the funding will be used for screwworm detection technology.
In addition, the federal government has already spent $21 million on a sterile fly production facility in Mexico.
What are New World screwworms?
Dig deeper:
The insect gets its name because it’s only found in the Americas.
It lays its eggs in the open wounds of animals, and its larvae become parasites, threatening livestock, domestic animals, and even people.
The screwworm was mostly eradicated in Texas and the rest of the United States in the 60s. But now, it’s moving north up from Panama and has a known presence a little over 300 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Sid Miller.
A 5,000-square-foot solution to the Massachusetts housing crisis – The Boston Globe
Tragedy in Minnesota, vaccine news, Snoop’s game call: Week in review
Will Kentucky basketball beat Mississippi State today? Our prediction
1 dead after rollover crash Friday evening in Kansas City, Missouri
‘It was apocalyptic’, woman tells Crans-Montana memorial service, as bar owner detained
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Federal judge blocks Trump from cutting childcare funds to Democratic states over fraud concerns
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,416
Trump administration can’t block child care, other program money for 5 states: Judge
AOC accuses Vance of believing ‘American people should be assassinated in the street’
Mercosur: How Macron’s domestic weakness undercut his Brussels clout
-
Detroit, MI6 days ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology4 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX5 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Dallas, TX1 day agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Health6 days agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Iowa4 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Nebraska3 days agoOregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska
-
Nebraska4 days agoNebraska-based pizza chain Godfather’s Pizza is set to open a new location in Queen Creek