Investor Gary Black Explains His Love-Hate Relationship With Tesla's Soaring Stock
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When You Love the Story But Not the Price Tag
Investor Gary Black is experiencing what you might call cognitive dissonance when it comes to Tesla Inc. (TSLA). On Tuesday, he took to X to explain why the electric vehicle maker's stock keeps climbing, even as he wrestles with some uncomfortable valuation math.
Black's enthusiasm is genuine. He describes Tesla as "the most profitable EV business model on the planet" and points to upcoming Optimus robot production, scaled-up autonomous driving technology, and CEO Elon Musk's unwavering commitment as major positives. "I love the $TSLA story," Black declared.
But here's where it gets complicated. Black isn't thrilled about Tesla's valuation metrics, specifically its Price/Earnings ratio sitting at "220x vs long-term forward EPS growth of +35%" alongside falling earnings estimates. When critics suggest he should "focus on the tech" instead of obsessing over the financials, Black pushes back: "that mindset will get you in trouble every time."
The real catalyst, according to Black, is the removal of safety monitors from Tesla's autonomous vehicles, "which signifies the technology is ready." He believes Musk's end-of-year autonomous driving promise is "likely why TSLA stock keeps going higher."
Reality Check on the Robotaxi Rollout
While Black sees promise in Tesla's autonomous future, the current reality looks somewhat different. An engineering student recently created a Robotaxi tracker that revealed Tesla's Austin service was unavailable more than 60% of the time. The same tracker identified roughly 32 vehicles in the fleet, a far cry from the 1,000 Robotaxis Musk had previously targeted for the service.
A Cybercab prototype was spotted recently in Austin, though observers couldn't determine whether a human was behind the wheel or if it represented genuine unsupervised autonomous testing.
Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG)-backed Waymo continues dominating the autonomous taxi space with over 14 million paid Robotaxi rides recorded in 2025. The comparison highlights just how early Tesla remains in its autonomous deployment, even as investors bet heavily on the company's future potential.
Price Action: According to market data, TSLA slipped 0.11% to $485.03 during after-hours trading.
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