All because of RoboTaxi, "Wooden Sister" insists Tesla will "10 times in 5 years" and buys Baidu

"Wood" is optimistic about the Robotaxi business, believing that Tesla's stock price is expected to reach $2,600 within five years, and has begun to "buy in small positions" in Baidu stock. At the recent HSBC Global Investment Summit, “Wood” Cathie Wood expressed strong optimism about Tesla's Robotaxi rental business, predicting that autonomous taxi services will account for 90% of the company's value within five years. Additionally, “Wood” expects the autonomous taxi market could expand to a scale of $8-10 trillion in the next 5-10 years. Based on this, “Wood” is optimistic about Baidu's development in the autonomous taxi business. Tesla plans to launch its autonomous taxi service in Texas this June, while Baidu has already started similar operations in multiple cities in China. “Wood” emphasized that if Baidu can capture a certain market share in this sector, even outside of China and Asia, it will bring significant value. Cathie Wood further pointed out that the market has not yet fully reflected Baidu's potential in this regard in its stock price. In the past month, Baidu's stock price has fluctuated upwards around $95, still a considerable distance from its historical high of over $330. Notably, although Wood did not disclose specific future investment plans, she stated that her team has been "buying in small positions" in Baidu stock. According to position disclosures, as of March 25, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest purchased 44,623 shares and 84,828 shares of Baidu through the ARKQ and ARKW funds, totaling 129,451 shares. Based on Baidu's closing price of $95, this investment amounts to approximately $12.3 million. Compared to Tesla, Baidu has its own characteristics and advantages in the development of the autonomous taxi sector. Wood's attitude towards Baidu is relatively cautious, but she also gives some recognition. She believes that competition in the fields of autonomous driving and large language models in China is very fierce, but Baidu's CEO Robin Li and his team are working hard to promote the development of the autonomous taxi business. Baidu has accumulated certain experience in the autonomous taxi business in the Chinese market, such as operations in Wuhan and other locations. Despite facing intense competition, Wood believes that Robin Li can learn from these experiences and apply them to other markets, such as Beijing and Hong Kong, where ride-hailing prices are higher, thereby opening up greater profit margins for Baidu's autonomous taxi business.