Tesla stock falls 7% amid broad tech sell-off, down over 10% since Musk awarded $1 trillion pay package

Tesla stock tumbled as the broader tech sector sold off on Thursday, with share now down 10% since CEO Elon Musk received his $1 trillion pay package.

At one point in midday trade Tesla shares were below the $400 threshold, hitting lows not scene since September 15th. If Tesla stock falls over 5.15%, it will be Tesla’s worst day since late July.

Tesla stock was down 7.4% in late afternoon trade.

As noted by Bespoke Investment, Tesla stock has shed around 10% since Tesla shareholders approved Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package at last Thursday’s shareholder meeting.

However, with the saga of Musk’s $1 trillion pay package behind it, analysts like Wedbush’s Dan Ives are still bullish on Tesla shares here, and he believes the automaker’s AI future is where investors should be looking.

“In my opinion, it’s going to be the most important chapter ever in Tesla’s story,” Ives said from the Yahoo Finance Invest event in New York.

Ives, who has called passage of Musk’s pay package a “bright green light” for Tesla’s AI and autonomous tech plans, has an Outperform rating on the stock and a Street-high $600 price target.

Ives said the first order of business for Musk and Tesla is self-driving and robotaxis.

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“You have to have the understanding of what Musk and Tesla are trying to do here,” Ives said. “They’re building out the AI future, autonomous. I mean, they’re going to own 80% of the autonomous landscape, in my opinion, over the next decade.”

Tesla is currently testing its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area, though with safety drivers in place. Musk said at Tesla’s recent shareholder meeting that Austin’s robotaxi safety drivers would be removed by the end of the year. He added that Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, and Las Vegas will be the next cities to test Tesla’s robotaxi service.

Tesla’s purpose-built robotaxi, the Cybercab, will begin production in April of next year, Musk said.

Ives sees the autonomous tech advancing the development of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots.

“[Tesla’s] Optimus, that’s what you’re playing for. It’s less about [vehicle] deliveries. It’s more about the AI future. You have to be patient,” Ives said, cautioning investors that the time horizon is measured in years, not months.

Tesla revealed at the shareholder meeting that it will build a 1 million-unit Optimus production line at its factory in Fremont, Calif., and eventually a 10 million-unit line at Giga Texas in Austin. The company provided no timeline; however, Optimus is in pilot production at Fremont.