Tesla Inc (TSLA)

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Tesla Stock Races Past Buy Point As Musk Predicts Chip Shortage Will Be Over Soon; FSD Update Expected

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said Friday he believes the chip shortage hampering car production is "short term," and capacity will be adequate by next year. Meanwhile, Tesla is slated to offer its next full self-driving software update today. Tesla stock broke out past a buy point.

Musk's comments about the chip shortage came after he was asked at the Italian Tech Week conference how long he thought the issue would persist, according to a Reuters report.

"There's a lot of chip fabrication plants that are being built," Musk said.

"I think we will have good capacity for providing chips by next year," he added.

Most industry watchers are less optimistic. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a Sept. 15 note to clients that "the chip situation remains acute."

"While the 'worst' may be Aug/Sep, vehicle supply may take a year or more to recover," he added.

Tesla FSD Update

Tesla's wide release of FSD Beta 10.1, which is supposed to work on city streets and highways, is expected today, according to a Sept. 1 Musk tweet.

Musk also hinted that a wider release of the full self-driving software was possible with a public "opt in" request button.

On Thursday, San Francisco transport authorities expressed concern about the safety of Tesla's FSD and criticized the company's marketing of the system, according to a separate Reuters report.

Earlier in the week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said again the system "does not make the vehicle an autonomous vehicle per California regulations." The California DMV added it's reviewing Tesla's use of the term "Full Self Driving."

Last month, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said it also is probing Tesla. It's looking into 12 crashes since 2018 in which Tesla models of various configurations have "encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes."

Meanwhile, Tesla broke ground on a factory to produce its large-scale battery system Megapack. The Megapack is meant for utility-scale energy storage. The new facility is located in Lathrop, Calif., near Tesla's Fremont headquarters.

Tesla Stock

Shares rose 1.6% to 765.67 in stock market trading today, breaking out past a 764.55 buy point in a cup-with-handle base.

Shares have found support near their 21-day exponential moving average. Its relative strength line is trending upward, as its 50-day line is also sloping up again.

Tesla's RS Rating is 85 out of a possible 99. Its EPS Rating is 72.

Among U.S. automakers with a growing slate of EVs, General Motors (GM) was up 0.5%, while Ford (F) rose 0.8%. Recent IPO Lucid Motors (LCID) fell 3%.

Tesla's China-based rivals Nio (NIO) declined 1.5%, Xpeng (XPEV) dipped 2.5% and Li Auto (LI) fell 3%.