Tesla stock plunges 5% Monday; is this YouTuber to blame?

Published 2025-03-17, 05:14 p/m
© Reuters

Investing.com -- Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 5% on Monday despite the broader market gaining 0.6%.  The downside move in Tesla comes in sharp contrast to the 27.5% surge in LIDAR maker Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR) today.

The move in both stocks is attributed to a new video by YouTuber Mark Rober posted over the weekend, which compared a Tesla vehicle on autopilot with vehicles equipped with LiDAR technology.  Rober is a former NASA engineer with 65 million YouTube followers.

In a series of tests performed by Rober, LiDAR easily outperformed the Telsa.

In one test, when a simulated fog environment was presented, the Tesla hit a child-sized dummy.  Meanwhile, the LiDAR stopped for the child-sized dummy when the fog was presented.

In a simulated torrential downpour, the Tesla hit the child-sized dummy while the LiDAR stopped.

In a bright-light simulated environment, both the Tesla and LiDAR worked.

Lastly, Rober tested both on a painted brick wall.  LiDAR handled the wall and stopped, while the Tesla did not – driving straight through the wall.

The negative tests come as Tesla plans on rolling out Robotaxi as early as June 2025.

Tesla’s shares are down 38% year-to-date.

Full video from Mark Rober:

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