Wall Street: Tesla is worth $90 billion more thanks to Musk’s Chinese visit

New York turns green. Apple wins in the run-up to the quarterly results. Tesla shoots 17 percent higher now that the car manufacturer may also market its self-driving software in China.

The American indicators are rebounding. The Dow Jones

gains 0.2 percent around 6 p.m., as does the Nasdaq tech exchange

.

Investors are preparing for the results of two major players later this week: Amazon

and Apple

. Apple shares rebound 3.2 percent, although investors are preparing for weaker results.

According to the research agency Counterpoint, sales of iPhones in China have fallen by 19 percent. The decline is remarkable because Chinese New Year was recently celebrated. During that period, the Chinese traditionally buy many gifts. Increased competition in particular appears to be the cause of weak sales.

Another problem is artificial intelligence (AI). Competitors such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms are working hard in this area, but Apple remains rather foggy about the future of AI. Yet there have been reports in recent weeks that the company is working on it. For example, all new Mac computers would have AI functionalities, according to sources from the Bloomberg news agency. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said he also expected AI updates for iPhones. He called that an entry point for investors.

Due to all the market concerns, Apple has fallen 6 percent since the beginning of this year, while the S&P500 index has risen almost 8 percent. The number set may possibly change that.

Tesla

shows a spurt of more than 17 percent after CEO Elon Musk visited China, making the company instantly worth 90 billion dollars more on the stock exchange. Two independent sources told the Reuters news agency that the electric car maker has reached an agreement with Baidu to use the Chinese tech giant’s mapping license to collect data on China’s public roads. This is important for the most important service for the company at the moment: FSB.

According to Musk, Tesla has invested so much in AI for the system that its effectiveness is improving rapidly. The model is currently in version 12.3 and the CEO advises anyone who has not yet tried it to take a demo. “Otherwise you don’t know what Tesla actually is,” he said during the call after the company’s latest results.

After the US, Musk also hopes to set up the system in China, with the ultimate goal of obtaining permission in the People’s Republic to allow cars to drive fully autonomously. Of course, policymakers, in both China and the US, will not simply approve that without being sure that the system is very secure. But Musk thinks the system will ultimately work so well that autonomous driving will “save lives.” With the latter, he thinks that policymakers will eventually change tack.

According to Musk, making cars drive autonomously could mean ‘the greatest value creation ever’, in other words: that is the main reason to buy Tesla shares. “Anyone who does not believe that we will solve autonomous driving should not invest in us,” he said in the most recent call.