Alphabet Is the Robotaxi Stock to Buy as Waymo Chases 1 Million Rides a Week
2026-10-11 09:17
•Daniel Sparks •The Motley Fool
••• •••••• Axe Cap view
Alphabet’s Waymo: The Robotaxi Bet Worth Watching
Waymo’s autonomous rides are scaling fast, making Alphabet a rare robotaxi play with steady core earnings backing growth.
Waymo’s push to hit 1 million fully autonomous rides weekly is ambitious, but already reaching 500,000 rides signals serious traction. Unlike Tesla, which relies heavily on hype with its limited robotaxi rollout and sky-high valuation, Alphabet’s Waymo remains a small slice of a giant machine generating tons of cash. This means losses from Waymo’s growth are quietly covered, allowing patience as the business develops. For South African investors, the question is: how does this affect us? Not directly through the JSE, since there’s no pure local robotaxi play. But watch the USD/ZAR closely, as Alphabet’s ability to grow in high-tech mobility solutions could influence USD strength and investor risk appetite broadly. Also, consider proxy exposures like Naspers and Prosus that hold stakes in global tech, though the link to Waymo specifically is distant. The risk is that autonomous tech delays continue or regulatory hurdles stall growth, which could dampen enthusiasm for tech names and dollar demand alike. this is just our opinion and not financial advice
For direct robotaxi exposure, consider modest USD/ZAR exposure to benefit if global tech rollouts boost dollar inflows. Avoid chasing Tesla’s valuation while watching Naspers or Prosus as long-term growth proxies but don’t overweight on robotaxi hopes alone.
- USD/ZAR
- Naspers
- Prosus
- Regulatory setbacks in autonomous driving
- Global tech growth disappointment affecting FX flows
6/10
Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicle subsidiary, has reached approximately 500,000 fully autonomous rides per week as of spring 2026, halfway toward its goal of 1 million rides weekly by year-end. While the company may fall short of this target, analyst Daniel Sparks argues Alphabet remains the best robotaxi investment option because Waymo represents only 3% of Alphabet's $4.2 trillion market value, with losses easily covered by Google's core profitable businesses. In comparison, Tesla and Uber face different challenges as robotaxi plays.
Our take is based on reporting first published by The Motley Fool.