Normally, thinking about vehicle innovations will quickly bring up electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA). And with good reason, its advances in self-driving and other features are widely known and frequently mentioned in reports. In fact, a Metro article reported that Tesla cameras are sufficiently powerful to see ghosts, though this was promptly debated. However, there are signs that Tesla is technologically behind in China, and that is having an oddly beneficial effect on shares, up over 2% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
The Wall Street Journal noted that Tesla has several advanced features, but in China, many of them are unusable, at least for now. Tesla is looking to activate Full Self-Driving in China, which allows a Tesla to travel from point A to point B without human intervention, unless needed.
But Chinese regulators so far have not approved the feature for use within their borders. There have been the usual concerns about accidents and data security. Tesla is also waiting for permission to transfer the data generated in China back to the United States for use in training artificial intelligence models for driving. As a result, Tesla is unable to use its technology to its full potential, which is essentially leaving it behind its competitors.
The Chechen Republic Loves Tesla
Meanwhile, in perhaps the oddest development Tesla will have seen in a while, a new report says that, in the Chechen Republic, they love both Tesla and CEO Elon Musk with a fervor that might be a little excessive. How so? The president of said republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, was seen in a video involving him driving a Cybertruck with a machine gun mounted on its roof.
Kadyrov also invited Musk to visit the region as his “…most dear guest.” Kadyrov further noted, “I express my sincere gratitude to Elon Musk. This is, of course, the strongest genius of our time and a specialist. A great man.” Kadyrov then announced plans to donate the gun-toting Cybertruck to the Russian military for use in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Is Tesla a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 10 Buys, 14 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.58% loss in its share price over the past year, the average TSLA price target of $211.46 per share implies 4.52% downside risk.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
