According to Wedbush, Tesla is reaching a point of major change that will probably alter the market’s perception of the company, where 2026 will turn out to be the year when the company’s much admired self-driving and robotics dreams start to become a reality, instead of just imaginary.

The analyst Daniel Ives believes that the stock is at a junction, where investors reckon how fast Tesla’s robotaxi potential will increase, after what Wedbush considers to be a successful early launch phase in Austin. In this scenario, the next year is viewed as being vital in discovering whether the AI-driven roadmap of Tesla can significantly change its growth path or not.

Robotaxis and Cybercabs

A vast and fast market, along with expansion for Tesla’s robotaxi platform is what Wedbush is suggesting. Ives thinks that one of the quickest rollouts across the U.S is going to happen in 2026 with robotaxis being operational in over 30 cities by the end of the year. In addition, Wedbush anticipates mass production of Tesla’s Cybercabs, which will commence around April or May.

This could be an achievement for Tesla, as it moves from being an experimentation to a much more large-scale producer. Autonomous Transport is the vision for Tesla, and this vision reinforces this notion. Vehicle sales are no longer going to be the only source of income for Tesla, instead they will be the base of autonomous transportation.

Autonomy & Robotics

Autonomy and Robotics are the so-called tech-babies of the era, and the whole corporate strategy is focused around AI. Ives explains that the very thing they work with makes it possible for the company to refrain from being only regionally limited in the sales of its products which could eventually lead to new and huge markets of the customer base.

Ives also mentions that increasing adoption of the company’s Full Self-Driving capability, which he sees as a main pillar of this development, and the firm predicting penetration exceeding 50%, thus have positive effects on margins and the recurring revenue dynamics over time.

Regulation, Leadership, and Valuation Upside

Another aspect of Wedbush’s positivity is the more favorable regulatory environment. Ives predicts the federal regulators to be less strict regarding autonomy, which will thus speed up the process of approvals and the deployment.

Ives said,

“We fully expect over the coming 3-6 months these key initiatives will now get fast tracked as the federal regulatory spiderweb that Musk & Co. have encountered over the past few years around FSD/autonomous clears significantly under Trump”.

He also stresses Elon Musk’s leadership, picturing him as a “wartime CEO” who is taking Tesla through this crucial change. In the context of valuation, Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $600 price target. Besides, the firm disclosed a way to a $2 trillion market cap in one year. In a bullish case, Ives predicts that Tesla will be worth $3 trillion by the end of 2026, where in the next 12-18 months the share price will rise to $800 as the company scales with production of autonomous cars and robots.

Bottom Line

Wedbush’s forecast poses 2026 as more than just another year of growth for Tesla, it marks the time when the company’s identity starts to be no longer defined by just cars, but by autonomy and robotics as well.

The firm is aware of the uncertainties surrounding execution, regulation, and consumer acceptance, but is confident that Tesla’s AI-centered roadmap can change the course of the company’s valuation story forever. For investors, the next year could be the judge of whether Tesla’s long-promised autonomous future will be at a large scale or not.

Ives said,