The market forecast surrounding autonomous driving is becoming clearer. Autonomous driving stocks, once very hot, have cooled. Peak Interest in the sector has passed. Promises of fully autonomous vehicles in the next few years seem unlikely to materialize. Instead, the forecast calls for focused growth in robo-taxi and fleet operations.
While you and I probably won’t be piloting our vehicles hands-free anytime soon, there’s still money to be made in the sector. Deleting Tech firms continue to invest in the development of the sector. Sticking with the largest, best-funded firms is a stable strategy. Let’s look at a few of the best choices among them.
Tesla (TSLA)
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is likely one of the first stocks that comes to mind when the topic of autonomous driving stocks comes up. Its vehicles currently have Level 2 autonomy, defined by SAE standard levels 0-5.
Autonomous driving level 2 Is essentially partial autonomous driving. Tesla’s vehicles have an Advanced Driver assistance system also known as ADAS. That means they can take control of the vehicle in specific situations including low-traffic highway environments.
CEO Elon Musk is on record stating that Tesla’s Vehicles will at some point in 2023 achieve level 4 or 5 autonomous driving. Musk has repeatedly overstated the developmental timeline of autonomous driving in Tesla vehicles. His most recent assertion looks to Simply Be the latest such instance.
Tesla continues to be among the best-positioned stocks for autonomous driving. The company will continue developing the technology. In the meantime, it will continue to benefit from its leading EV position and should reward investors along the way.
Alphabet (GOOG,GOOGL)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) isn’t an autonomous driving stock in the purest sense. Rather, Google is one of several companies under the Alphabet umbrella including Waymo.
Google’s revenues help to fund Waymo which remains a separate entity. It’s also a separate entity that happens to be among the leading players in the autonomous driving space. Like all tech giants, Alphabet’s technological reach is vast.
Investors can’t direct their capital to Waymo, so they’ll have to settle for Alphabet for now. As mentioned in the lead into this story, robotaxis is one of the focal areas for the continued development of autonomous driving. Waymo provides robo taxis that currently serve ride-hailing purposes in San Francisco and Phoenix. The company intends to expand its reach into other markets soon. Waymo will soon be available in Los Angeles and Austin.
Waymo One Is the name of the company’s robo-taxi. It has been operating for a long time and has managed to gain a lot of data over that period. Thus, if any company is best positioned to understand the development of that sector, it is Google and Alphabet.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Has become synonymous with AI in 2023. Its AI chips dominate the sector and are in high demand for artificial intelligence applications. Thus, the future is very bright for Nvidia and its stock.
Nvidia is pursuing its autonomous driving platform. It has developed its so-called Drive platform expressly for self-driving. Nvidia’s Drive platform grew from its former Autonomous driving collaboration with Tesla. That partnership is now defunct but has led to the current Drive platform. Nvidia is dedicating some of its AI prowess toward training algorithms to design the hardware and software used in autonomous driving platforms. Those platforms will be sold to automakers moving forward.
Nvidia is going to continue to have opportunities across many sectors and industries. The company is noted to have the best and brightest AI minds. Autonomous driving is one of many reasons to consider investing in the company.
On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.