Ark Invest, File (for Wood) and Hannibal Hanschke/Pool Photo via AP, File (for Musk).
- Tesla will be the leader of the EV market, as the company is leading the charge in key areas, Cathie Wood said.
- The ARK Invest CEO pointed to Tesla's focus in autonomy and energy storage.
- Wood predicted Tesla stock would jump to $1,500 in five years, implying a 650% increase from current levels.
Tesla is going to emerge as the winner of the electric vehicle market, as the company is leading the industry in key factors that distinguish it from its competitors, according to Ark Invest's Cathie Wood.
"I think the companies that are going to win are not focused only on electric. They're focused on autonomous," Wood said in a Bloomberg Intelligence webinar posted on Thursday.
In addition to robotics and artificial intelligence, which will power autonomous electric vehicles, she also pointed to energy storage, saying advances in battery technology will give electric vehicles lower costs than typical gas-powered vehicles.
"We believe that Tesla from a thought leadership point of view, is leading the charge, so to speak, in this movement towards autonomous electric vehicles," she said.
Woods believes Tesla would be at the forefront of the autonomous taxi platform market, more so than its other competitors, such as Chinese EV makers like BYD.
That's because they aren't focusing enough on autonomous vehicles, and Tesla models are also of higher quality, she said.
"I do believe that Tesla has, for a given price, the best range and performance of any car on the market today," Wood added.
Her bullish outlook comes amid a strong start to the year for Tesla, with the stock soaring 84% since January, despite tanking 65% in 2022.
The company was among other tech and growth firms that struggled amid rising inflation and interest rate hikes, but has soared after reporting record profits over the past quarter and slashing prices to boost demand.
Wood has been a prominent bull on Tesla stock, and has plowed more money into the EV maker in multiple buying sprees this year. The company is the largest holding in Wood's flagship ARK Innovation ETF.
She told Bloomberg that she has five-year, $1,500 price target on Tesla, representing a 650% jump from current levels.