Tesla’s (TSLA) market capitalization, presently hovering simply over $1 trillion, might begin down the highway to doubling in worth by the tip of 2026 if its robotaxi launch goes nicely this weekend, Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives wrote Friday.

Protecting their “outperform” score and Avenue-high $500 worth goal, Ives and his colleagues wrote Friday that they “consider the march to a $2 trillion valuation for TSLA over the subsequent 12 to 18 months has now begun in our view with [Full Self-Driving] and autonomous penetration of Tesla’s put in base and the acceleration of Cybercab within the US representing the golden goose.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that the corporate was tentatively focusing on a June 22 launch for its robotaxi program in Austin, Texas. The analysts stated invitations have been despatched out “giving chosen Tesla customers permission to make use of the Mannequin Y Robotaxi service beginning on Sunday.”

Musk has stated the plan is to begin with 10 to twenty Mannequin Y automobiles carrying paying passengers totally autonomously round a particular, “geo-fenced” space of Austin. Tesla plans to ultimately broaden to extra automobiles in a number of different cities, and permit Tesla house owners so as to add their automobile to an Uber (UBER)-like fleet, and begin producing the Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals subsequent yr.

Additionally Friday, Tesla introduced on Chinese language social media service Weibo that it has signed an settlement to construct its first grid-scale battery energy plant in China.

Bullish Analysts Desperate to Shift Focus Away From Current Musk-Trump Spat

Bullish analysts have been eager to shift focus for Tesla inventory to the robotaxi launch and away from Musk’s public split with President Donald Trump earlier this month, whereas extra bearish analysts have stated the feud might complicate the company’s regulatory path.

Earlier this week, a gaggle of Texas lawmakers despatched Tesla a letter asking the EV maker to pause its robotaxi launch till a brand new model of its autonomous automobile rules go into impact in the beginning of September.

Tesla shares rose lower than 1% in latest buying and selling to about $324. They’re down about 20% on the yr, however have recovered many of the floor misplaced as Musk and Trump traded on-line barbs earlier this month.

After shares fell sharply earlier this yr as new tariffs have been rolled out, the common American households’ internet value fell for the primary time in nearly two years. Many, however not all of them, are anticipated to bounce again because the worst of the tariffs have been paused or rolled again.

The Federal Reserve mentioned final week that family net worth decreased to $169.3 trillion within the first quarter of 2025. That is a $1.6 trillion drop, and the primary decline because the second quarter of 2023. Family internet value was at a file excessive in 2024’s fourth quarter.

The vast majority of this decline is probably going attributed to the drop in stock values after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements apprehensive traders and shoppers. The S&P 500, a key indicator of how effectively American corporations and their shares are doing, fell by nearly 20% from February to April.

Nevertheless, after Trump pulled back or temporarily paused the most extreme tariffs, the S&P bounced again and now stands only one.5% under its peak in February.

The market’s restoration ought to assist the roughly 60% of households that maintain shares get well a portion of their internet value within the second quarter, mentioned Priscilla Thiagamoorthy, senior economist at BMO Financial institution.

Nevertheless, Thiagamoorthy mentioned lower- and middle-income households are much less more likely to see a big acquire of their internet value because the inventory market improves.

“Decrease- and middle-income households have far much less invested within the inventory market in comparison with the extremely rich,” Thiagamoorthy mentioned. “Greater inventory values push up internet value, however these households aren’t experiencing that wealth impact in the identical manner.”

Moreover, Thiagamoorthy mentioned lower- and middle-income households nonetheless really feel pinched by meals inflation, which stays comparatively excessive, since they usually spend a bigger share of their earnings on groceries.

Meta (META) and Oakley unveiled a brand new line of AI-powered glasses Friday that shall be out there for preorder beginning subsequent month.

The Oakley Meta HSTN glasses embody an Extremely HD digital camera, open-ear audio system, and the Meta AI app in-built, permitting customers to take hands-free photographs and movies. It additionally comes geared up with an extended battery life than earlier fashions of Meta AI glasses. A limited-edition model of the HSTN shall be out there for preorder beginning July 11 for $499, with a $399 model anticipated to launch later this summer time. 

The brand new Oakley glasses are Meta’s newest collaboration with eyewear maker and Oakley proprietor EssilorLuxottica, which additionally partnered with the tech big on a line of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. A line of Prada glasses is anticipated sooner or later, in keeping with a report from CNBC.

“Glasses have emerged as a significant new {hardware} class of the AI period,” Meta mentioned in an announcement. It isn’t the one Large Tech participant attempting its success with AI-powered eyewear. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google in Might mentioned it partnered with glasses retailer Warby Parker (WRBY) to develop AI-powered glasses. Google dedicated to investing as a lot as $150 million, together with shopping for a stake in Warby Parker. Snap (SNAP), in the meantime, has mentioned it plans to launch the newest model of its personal AI glasses, often known as Specs, in 2026.

Meta shares have been down about 2% to simply above $684 in Friday afternoon buying and selling. They’ve added roughly 17% of their worth for the reason that begin of the 12 months.