Tesla is trading around its highest level since January but an analyst on Sunday raised the stock price target, pointing about 17% upside and TSLA hitting all-time highs. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk was seen briefly speaking with President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Piper Sandler analyst Alex Potter on Sunday raised his Tesla stock price target to 500, up from 400, after visiting China as the EV giant remains the firm's "top idea for investing in autonomous vehicles and robotics."
Potter sees Tesla stock moving beyond its all-time high of 488.54 and hitting 500. The analyst defended the stock's sky-high multiple.
"We think TSLA's multiple is so high because the company is using AI to disrupt markets that are almost unimaginably large," Potter wrote. "Given the size of the addressable market — as well as Elon Musk's track record — long-term investors have proven willing to 'front load' the valuation, in anticipation of an eventual upward inflection in fundamentals."
Over the weekend, Musk also attended the memorial for slain conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and was seen briefly speaking with Trump. Musk and Trump have publicly feuded online since the Tesla CEO left the administration and the DOGE project.
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Meanwhile, Tesla also received regulatory approval to start "robotaxi" tests in Arizona with safety drivers, multiple outlets reported Friday night. The Arizona Department of Transportation cleared Tesla to launch the semiautonomous ride-hailing service. Tesla plans to roll out vehicles with safety drivers in the Phoenix metro area.
Tesla launched its robotaxi service in late June in Austin, Texas, with a dozen or so vehicles with safety monitors in the passenger seat. The ride-hailing operation expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area, with safety drivers. Earlier this month, Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles OK'd Tesla plans to test its robotaxi service in the state, with expectations that they'll be in Las Vegas soon.
Musk has said he expects the ride-hailing service to cover about half the U.S. population by year-end.
Tesla Q3 Deliveries Upcoming
Investors also await third-quarter vehicle delivery data. Tesla reports third-quarter global vehicle deliveries in early October and Q3 earnings are on Oct. 21.
Analyst consensus has global Tesla Q3 vehicle deliveries coming in around 446,000, according to FactSet. That would be about 16% above the second-quarter total but still down 4% vs. Q3 2024. Few analysts have updated Q3 delivery targets since late July, however.
Despite this consensus view, Tesla deliveries should be strong in Q3 as the U.S. tax credit expires on Sept. 30. After that, deliveries are likely to fall significantly in the U.S.
The EV giant updated its website over the weekend showing that customers can still take advantage of the tax credit if they order a vehicle by Sept. 30, not if it is delivered by that date.
Piper Sandler on Sunday projects 495,000 Q3 deliveries while GLJ Research forecasts 467,000. Meanwhile, Kalshi prediction market has been pegging deliveries at 510,000.
Tesla Stock Performance
TSLA fell around 2% to 425.85 on Tuesday after gaining 1.9% to 434.21 during Monday's stock market. Tesla stock jumped 7.6% last week to 426.07, following Musk's disclosure of $1 billion worth of share buys.
In the prior week, Tesla stock surged 12.85%, racing out of a consolidation buy point of 367.71, according to MarketSurge charts. At Tuesday's market close, Tesla was just 14.7% below December's all-time high of 488.54.
Baird analyst Ben Kallo on Friday upgraded Tesla to outperform from neutral with a price target of 548, up from 320. Kallo wrote that Tesla's vehicle volumes will likely decline again in 2025 and near-term fundamentals "will be choppy," but that TSLA could outperform as Tesla is increasingly viewed as the leader in physical artificial intelligence.
At this point, investors looking to start a position should see if Tesla pulls back or perhaps forges a handle to a consolidation going back to end of last year.
Investors can keep tabs on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and IBD SwingTrader along with the IBD Sector Leaders list.
Tesla stock has a 79 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. The stock also has an 87 Relative Strength Rating and a 53 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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