If Robotaxi Talk Is Driving Tesla Stock, What About These Portfolio Holdings?

One of the stocks we’ve been asked about a few times over the last year has been Tesla  (TSLA) . 

We’ve had our concerns about electric vehicle (EV) demand, especially following the removal of federal EV tax credits in the U.S at the end of Q3 2025. Data from research firm Cox found Tesla’s U.S. sales fell to ~39,800 vehicles in November, down 23% from 51,513 in November 2024. That figure was also the lowest since January 2022. In the last few days, we’re also seeing reports about the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probing door-related problems with Tesla’s Model 3 sedans.

To that, we can add the decline in Tesla’s November sales in the European Union. Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association found the company sold 12,130 new cars across the EU last month, down from 18,430 in November 2024.

Yet, after falling from as high as $470 in early November to a low below $390 during the month, TSLA shares rebounded and moved higher. So much so that even noted Tesla bull Cathie Wood of Ark Invest was selling the shares earlier this week. Granted, TSLA remains a large position inside Ark, accounting for nearly 12% of assets in the Ark Innovation ETF  (ARKK) .

Sorry for the pun, but what’s driving this?

The likely answer, with EV sales poised to miss the mark, is that investors are more focused on AI, robotaxis, and robots. That’s a factor in Wood’s outsized ARKK position in TSLA shares, and also what fuels Wedbush’s Dan Ives and his call for a $3 trillion valuation for Tesla by 2027.

Here’s the thing, though: So far, Tesla has been operating a limited ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area over the last several months, with plans to expand that. Plans called for launches in several additional cities before the end of 2025, but with a week to go and the holidays, odds are that’s going to be more like “early 2026.” In 2026, Tesla is also expected to bring Optimus humanoid robots and its own custom AI chips that will eventually be used in its Cybercab robotaxis and data centers.

With Tesla's beta of 1.88, a resetting of those expectations and a continued decline in EV sales could weigh on the shares. Also, considering Tesla’s 2.5% or so weight in the S&P 500 and 4.7% for the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), at a minimum, we’ll want to pay close attention to those developments and what they could mean for the market. As far as whether TSLA shares will make it into TheStreet Pro Bullpen or the Portfolio in 2026, that will hinge on signs the company can, to paraphrase the title of one of Geoffrey Moore’s best-selling books, successfully "cross the chasm."

But What About These Others?

As we think about Tesla’s push toward robotaxis and autonomous driving, let’s remember the Pro Portfolio has some exposure to that through our positions in Amazon  (AMZN) , Alphabet  (GOOGL) , Nvidia  (NVDA) , and Qualcomm  (QCOM) . 

Most have likely heard of Alphabet’s Waymo, which has about 2,500 vehicles ferrying customers from locations in five cities as of December, with another 11 U.S. cities listed as its next targets. Amazon’s Zoox is operating in Las Vegas and San Francisco and is looking to expand to Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida. As you can likely guess, Nvidia and Qualcomm have irons in the chip market for autonomous driving.

For those four holdings, autonomous driving and robotaxis are minuscule businesses today, but like at Tesla, they have future potential. So before we go counting those chickens, we’ll want to watch for a change in consumer preferences as well as the clearing of legal, insurance, and regulatory hurdles. A survey by the American Automobile Association in early 2025 showed that 66% of drivers in the U.S. felt fearful, and 25% felt uncertain about autonomous vehicles.

Companies That Could Offer More Insight

Feelings about autonomous vehicles will likely change over time, but we’ll still need to clear other hurdles for mass adoption to begin. We’ll also be following comments from Uber  (UBER) , Lyft  (LYFT) , Hertz  (HTZ) , Avis Budget  (CAR) , Carvana  (CVNA) , and the like, given the potential for autonomous vehicles and robotaxis to dramatically change their business models. 

At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro Portfolio was long AMZN, GOOGL, MVDA and QCOM.