My little Pony IPO

Autonomous electric vehicles may not have a driver, but they’re still putting the pedal to the metal.

Ever since President-elect Donald Trump announced a friendlier regulatory environment for self-driving automobile companies, it feels like the good news for the industry has been revving up.

But it isn’t just the US that’s speeding ahead.

A series of Chinese IPOs are proving just how valuable robotaxis can really be. Chinese autonomous EV-maker Pony AI just went public last week, unveiling our new favorite ticker: PONY. The Toyota-backed carmaker raised $260 million by offering 20 million American depositary shares, giving it a market value of $4.2 billion.

It’s only the latest in a series of Chinese self-driving IPOS: Zeekr raised $441 million at a $5.5 billion valuation when it debuted on the NYSE in May, and Chinese robotaxi company WeRide went public on the Nasdaq in October and raised $440.5 million in its IPO.

Even though Chinese car companies could be hurt by Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy targeting the region, carmakers are still looking to go public while their growth is accelerating and US markets are booming.

But while self-driving hype is high, investors should note that this technology is still in its infancy. A better regulatory environment during a second Trump administration would be a much-needed boon for these companies: shares of Pony, Zeekr, and WeRide are all down since their debuts.

Tesla zooms ahead

It wouldn’t be an EV drag race without talking about Elon Musk’s Tesla, which has transformed from beleaguered automaker into a new analyst favorite.

Tesla shares rose over 3% today after the firm’s VP of AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, posted on X on Saturday that Tesla’s most advanced Full Self-Driving software to date is rolling out en masse.

And that wasn’t the only good news: A number of analysts recently raised their price targets on Tesla, including Roth analyst Craig Irwin, who upped his price target from $85 to $380. Talk about a U-turn.

“Musk's significant influence in the Trump White House is already having a major influence and ultimately the golden path for Tesla around Cybercabs and autonomous is now within reach,” wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who maintained his $400 price target on the stock.

Now, we’ll really be impressed if “Full Self-Driving” actually means fully self driving this time.—LB