Tesla Cybercab Set for Sept. 3 Austin Launch as Stock Slides on China Recall, Engineer Exit and Solar Roof Discontinuation

Tesla confirmed it will launch its Cybercab robotaxi service in Austin on September 3, days after Nevada approved the company to deploy up to 5,000 robotaxis in the state. Citizens Financial reiterated a Market Perform rating following the Nevada approval, and prediction markets assign only a 17% probability that Tesla will sell a $30,000 Cybercab to a retail customer this year, down from 33% in late April. Despite the robotaxi momentum, Tesla shares fell roughly 1.4% on Monday, trading in a narrow $345-$354 range on the five-hour chart, as several negative developments weighed on sentiment.

Tesla and other automakers began what Reuters described as a record vehicle recall in China, covering more than 4 million vehicles across multiple brands over concerns that doors may be difficult to open in an emergency. Separately, Tesla's top chip engineer departed for startup DensityAI, a blow to the company's in-house silicon ambitions at a time when Elon Musk has outlined plans for a Terafab semiconductor facility in Texas capable of producing 2-nanometer chips for Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla also quietly discontinued its solar roof tiles, exiting the product roughly a decade after launch and shifting focus to conventional solar panels.

On the financial side, Tesla's second-quarter revenue rose 26% to $28.23 billion on 480,126 deliveries, though the company posted negative free cash flow of approximately $1.09 billion as AI investment spending increased, with management guiding for negative free cash flow to persist through the full year. Musk's net worth rebounded to more than $851 billion, with Tesla shares up about 22% from their July low, and analyst price targets cluster around $406 on average with more bullish calls from Stifel and RBC near $491 and $500.