Stock Market Today, Aug. 31: Tesla Stock Surges on Cybercab Event Anticipation

Source The Motley Fool

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), the global electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage manufacturer, closed at $367.95, up 5.51%. Investors focused on the upcoming Sept. 3 Cybercab event and renewed interest in FSD and robotaxi plans.
Trading volume reached 60.9 million shares, coming in about 46% above its three-month average of 41.6 million shares. Tesla IPO'd in 2010 and has grown 23,042% since going public.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,686, down 0.33%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) closed at 26,371, down 0.12%. Among EV and automotive software peers, Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) closed at $16.06, down 0.06%, and Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) closed at $4.85, down 3.19%.

What this means for investors

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been guiding investors to focus on his company's EV autonomy software as a main driver for Tesla's future fortunes. The next big step in that regard is coming on Thursday, and anticipation looked to be helping drive shares higher today.

The invite-only Cybercab event in Austin is being billed as offering exclusive access to the steering-wheel- and pedal-free vehicle. Investors may hear more from that gathering about Tesla's progress and plans for that brand-new product.

Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) technology gained approval for a limited robotaxi rollout in Nevada two weeks ago, helping to expand its footprint and set the stage for an eventual Cybercab fleet.

Tesla stock will likely continue to trade on the success of that technology, as well as its robotics division. Investors shouldn't get overly excited, though, until real progress is shown.

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Howard Smith has positions in Lucid Group, Rivian Automotive, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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