December 21, 2024 at 6:00 AM Tesla's (TSLA) 2024 went out with a bang, thanks to CEO Elon Musk and one of his biggest gambles yet. While the stock gained over 70% year to date thanks to a post-Trump election surge, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the EV giant. Here are three highlights from the year and what to expect in 2025. The robotaxi gambit and cheap EV pivot When Tesla released its third quarter 2023 results in January, it warned its production growth would be “notably lower” in the year ahead. Meanwhile, investors questioning Tesla’s profitability picture in March sent shares to their lowest in nearly a year. Another big delivery miss in the first quarter didn’t help matters — nor did growing competition in China. Musk saw an opening and tried to turn the tide, claiming Tesla would finally reveal its long-awaited robotaxi in August. Initially, there was concern that the robotaxi push would hamper the release of the cheaper EV or relegate it to the dustbin. Emmanuel Rosner, a Deutsche Bank analyst at the time, felt Tesla’s focus on the robotaxi came at the abandonment of the cheap EV, which was a main reason for owning the stock. In fact, Musk had said in the past that a cheap EV would be difficult to make profitably. Later in the month of April, after Tesla stock hit its nadir for the year, Tesla confirmed in its fiscal Q1 earnings report it would indeed accelerate the launch of more affordable vehicles while it worked on the robotaxi, assuaging investors and analysts. A couple of months later, while investors awaited news on the robotaxi and cheap EV, issues with design and functionality led Tesla to delay its robotaxi reveal to Oct. 10. At the time of the robotaxi delay, a run-up in shares plus Musk’s open support for Donald Trump — whose antipathy toward EVs was not secret — led some investors to dump Tesla shares. “TSLA has always traded with a premium attached to it for other, future growth initiatives. However, at current levels, we believe that unidentifiable premium is too significant,” UBS analyst Joseph Spak wrote in a note to clients. Later in October, Tesla finally revealed what all were waiting for: the new robotaxi, dubbed the Cybercab. While the slick Hollywood soundstage event provided plenty in terms of visuals, the vehicle itself and planning were light on details. But bullish analysts were still focused on the long-term potential. “We think this is going to drive the future value of Tesla. When we look out five years, we think it'll be two-thirds of the enterprise value in five years. So we're super excited about it,” ARK Invest’s Tasha Keeney said. That sentiment, plus solid Q3 delivery numbers, buoyed the stock and Wall Street. Tesla again confirmed in the earnings report that a cheaper EV was coming and gave Wall Street analysts more details to chew on. “The new Tesla model (we refer to as ‘Model Q’) should launch in 1H25 and will be priced <$30,000 including subsidies (i.e., $37,499 if US EV tax credit goes away),” Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu wrote in a note in December following a meeting with Tesla's investor relations team. Look for Tesla to show off that cheap EV in the first few months of the new year. Unless, of course, Musk delays it. ‘Don’t fire Steve Jobs’: Musk’s payday showdown Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Cannes, France, last January. (Photo: Richard Bord/WireImage) (Richard Bord via Getty Images) It wasn't just planning new products that consumed Musk's time. "I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having 25% voting control," Musk said on his X account in early January. "Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla." This request came after a Delaware judge invalidated Musk's record-breaking $56 billion Tesla pay package, calling the compensation granted by the EV maker's board "an unfathomable sum" that was unfair to shareholders. The saga with Musk, his Tesla stake, and compensation would roil Tesla through the end of the summer. "The Street views Tesla correctly (in our view) as a disruptive tech leader, and if Musk ultimately went down the path to create his own company (separate from Tesla) for his next generation AI projects this would clearly be a big negative for the Tesla story," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote at the time. Tesla filed its proxy statement ahead of the EV maker's June shareholder meeting with two big asks: that shareholders vote to move Tesla’s state of incorporation to Texas and that they ratify CEO Elon Musk’s 2018 pay package.