Cathie Wood, the star stock picker behind Tesla’s stratospheric valuation, has doubled down on her bets, citing the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), new energy and automation for her bullishness.
The worldwide market for self-driving taxis, which Tesla is approved to test in California, may be worth between US$8 trillion and US$10 trillion in five to 10 years, she said. That would make up 90 per cent of Tesla’s expected valuation at US$2,600 per share in five year’s time, a near 10-fold increase from the current level, she said earlier this week.
“We think US$8 [trillion] to US$10 trillion for the entire autonomous taxi opportunity throughout the world, from almost nothing,” is possible, said Wood, the founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management, said at HSBC’s Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong on Thursday. “That’s how quickly AI is going to cause these things to happen.”
AI would cause all kinds of convergence among sectors, creating a “huge opportunity”, she added.
Tesla was an example of the convergence of various sectors, Wood said. “We did not define it as an auto company. It was a robotics, energy storage and AI company.”
Wood predicted earlier this week in a media interview that Tesla’s robotaxis would account for 90 per cent of its value of US$2,600 per share in the next five years.
