Tesla’s Brutal 29% Plunge This Year—Can Elon’s June AI Taxi Hail a Rescue?

Tesla investors white-knuckling through a 29% YTD drop might finally get their lifeline—Elon’s long-promised AI taxi fleet, set to launch in June. Because nothing revives a battered stock like vaporware dressed as innovation.

The ’Tesla Network’ moonshot lands as Wall Street loses patience with missed deadlines and broken promises. Either Musk delivers autonomous rides by summer, or Tesla becomes another cautionary tale of hype outstripping execution.

Meanwhile, legacy automakers chuckle while quietly building actual revenue streams. Priorities.

Can Tesla’s AI Taxi Bet Offset Weak Earnings And Falling Stock?

Stock Struggles Amid Weak Earnings

Tesla’s first-quarter operating profit hit just $399 million, a substantial 66% year-over-year decline that missed Wall Street estimates of approximately $900 million. Such dramatic underperformance would typically, under normal circumstances, trigger a serious sell-off, but the upcoming AI Taxi launch anticipation has somewhat cushioned the impact on Tesla stock forecast.

June AI Taxi Launch Timeline Confirmed

Tesla has reaffirmed its timeline for launching a self-driving taxi service in June during its recent earnings call. This firm commitment to the Tesla AI Taxi launch comes at an especially crucial time as the company faces mounting pressure from declining automotive profits and also increasing competition in the electric vehicle space.

The Tesla AI account on X heightened anticipation with a tweet on May 1 that simply stated:

While self-driving cars weren’t explicitly mentioned in this particular communication, the June deadline has been the focus of Tesla analysts and investors for many months now, with quite a few betting on the Tesla AI Taxi launch to revitalize the company’s growth story and improve the Tesla stock forecast through 2025 and beyond.

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Early Self-Driving Demonstrations

A preview of Tesla’s self-driving technology emerged when Fox News host Lara Trump toured the Austin manufacturing facility recently. During her visit, she observed Tesla vehicles driving themselves off the assembly line without any human intervention, suggesting Elon Musk’s Tesla plans are advancing the Tesla AI Taxi launch preparations.

The transition from controlled factory environments to public streets certainly represents a significant technical challenge for the autonomous driving technology. However, Tesla appears quite confident in its timeline for the June AI Taxi launch in Austin, which aligns with earlier Elon Musk Tesla plans announced during previous earnings calls.

Can Autonomous Technology Save the Stock?

The successful deployment of self-driving taxis could fundamentally change Tesla’s growth narrative. After years and years of promises about autonomous driving technology, an actual Tesla AI Taxi launch would represent a significant milestone for the self-driving car rollout industry as a whole.

While the rather concerning 29% year-to-date stock decline reflects serious worries about Tesla’s CORE business and intensifying competition, the approaching AI Taxi launch might demonstrate technological leadership in what appears to be a high-growth segment. The company’s stock performance and overall Tesla stock forecast for the remainder of 2025 will likely depend heavily on how well the self-driving car rollout performs once deployed in real-world conditions.