Tesla Stock Crushes Rivian, Chinese EV Rivals In August — Wall Street Sees More Upside Before Cybercab Event

• Rivian gained 5.5%, while GM, Ford, Stellantis, BYD, Li Auto, XPeng and Nio all ended August lower.
• Wall Street’s average $390.09 price target implies a 6% upside, with the overall analyst consensus at ‘Buy.’
• Tesla expanded its Austin Robotaxi geofence by 9% to 264 square miles ahead of Thursday’s Cybercab event.

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) surged over 18% in August, leaving Rivian (RIVN) and major Chinese EV rivals far behind as Cybercabs appeared across Austin ahead of the company’s highly anticipated launch event on Thursday.

TSLA Stock Tops August Auto Race

Tesla was the clear August winner among major U.S. and Chinese EV stocks. Rivian rose 5.5% during the month, while General Motors, Ford and Stellantis fell 2.9%, 4% and 4.7%, respectively. Chinese EV makers performed even worse. BYD’s U.S.-listed shares declined 7.5%, while Li Auto dropped 11.2%, XPeng fell 12.6% and Nio slid 13.3%.

Meanwhile, Wall Street’s average 12-month Tesla price target stands at $390.09, according to Koyfin, implying a 6% upside from current levels. Among the 46 analysts covering Tesla, six rate the stock a ‘Strong Buy,’ 16 assign a ‘Buy,’ 19 recommend a ‘Hold,’ three rate it a ‘Sell,’ and two carry a ‘Strong Sell.’ The overall analyst consensus is ‘Buy.’

Tesla Cybercabs Flood Austin Before Event

The rally comes ahead of Tesla’s Sept. 3 Cybercab event, with sightings of the company’s gold-colored autonomous vehicles accelerating across Austin. Tesla investor and influencer Sawyer Merritt noted on X that the company added another 38 Cybercabs to its Robotaxi fleet, bringing the total registered with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to 45. Videos shared online showed multiple Cybercabs driving and parked around the city.

Merritt also reported that Tesla expanded its Austin Robotaxi service area for the first time in 10 months. The geofence grew about 9% to 264 square miles, compared with 81 square miles in Dallas, 31 in Miami, 26 in Orlando, 25 in Houston and 24 in Tampa.

Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, had also said that he saw Tesla Cybercabs throughout downtown Austin and, for the first time, observed as many as Waymo vehicles. Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy also shared footage of the vehicles, declaring, “The streets won’t be the same anymore.” When an X user asked whether Tesla was preparing to flood Austin with Cybercabs, CEO Elon Musk replied, “Yes.”

TSLA Analyst Challenges Robotaxi Bulls 

Tesla’s EV business is also showing signs of demand strength ahead of the event. The Model Y L Launch Series is nearly sold out for 2026, with estimated deliveries for all configurations now extending into early 2027. Strong early demand for the longer Model Y variant could help as Tesla tries to balance its core vehicle operations with its increasingly focused autonomy and AI arms.

However, Future Fund Managing Partner Gary Black argued that Wall Street expects several autonomous-driving companies to achieve unsupervised operations around a similar time, potentially turning ride-hailing autonomy into a commodity rather than a winner-takes-all market. “WS analysts forecast valuations based on their projections of forward earnings and cash flows, not based on where the first real number prints,” Black said.

He compared today’s bullish Robotaxi forecasts with claims from five years ago that Tesla would sell 20 million EVs annually by 2030. Black called that assumption “absurd,” saying it would have required Tesla to capture about 20% of the global EV market. 

How Do Retail Traders Feel About TSLA?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for TSLA jumped to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ levels a day ago amid a 1,444% surge in 24-hour message volumes.

One user weighed in on the cybercab event and said, “Fleet size and paid miles per car would tell us far more about the business than the presentation itself.”

So far this year, Tesla’s stock has lagged its “Magnificent Seven” peers, making it the group’s worst performer, down about 18%. 

Another user said, “$TSLA traders now expecting a quick move back to reclaim $400 after bullish updates on cybercab, semi and optimus from the company”

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