Tesla Inc. got another positive approval Friday from Wedbush’s prolific analyst Dan Ives, who raised his price target by 33%, but he still won’t recommend investors buy the stock.
Ives said the “hearts and lungs” of investors’ bull thesis about Tesla TSLA,
focuses on China, as consumer demand has soared in 2021, not only for Tesla’s Model 3s, but also for electric vehicles from “impressive” domestic competitors such as Nio Inc. NIO,
Li Auto Inc. LI,
and Xpeng Inc. XPEV,
He said that while competition is on the rise, Tesla “remains at the top of the EV mountain”. And given the “robust” demand for electric vehicles worldwide, Ives now expects Tesla to exceed the 1 million deliveries threshold by 2022, with deliveries approaching 5 million per year by the end of the decade.
“While more than 150 automakers worldwide are aggressively pursuing the EV capability, in the EV marketplace, we believe it is Tesla’s world and everyone else is paying rent,” Ives wrote in a letter to customers.
He raised his “base” price target for Tesla from $ 715 to $ 950, 12.4% above Thursday’s closing price. His target is now the highest of 37 analysts surveyed by FactSet, and nearly double the $ 498.66 average.
Tesla’s shares were up 0.5% in premarket trading. It fell 1.1% Thursday, closing 4.0% below the record of $ 880.02 on Jan. 8.
Joe Biden as president and a Democrat-controlled congress should also provide a tailwind for the EV industry, Ives said. “A Blue Senate is very optimistic and a potential game changer for Tesla and the overall EV industry in the US, with a more green-driven agenda sure to be on the agenda for years to come,” he wrote.
Ives also increased his bull case price target by 25% from $ 1,000 to $ 1,250.
However, he reiterated his neutral rating that he has on the Tesla since April 2019. For Wedbush, a neutral rating means that the analysts expect the total return of the stock to perform in line with the medial total return of the analyst’s cover universe. Ives is listed with Wedbush’s business software analyst, and other companies he covers include Apple Inc. AAPL,
Uber Technologies Inc. UBER,
and Zscaler Inc. ZS,
which he performs better.
Tesla’s share is up 714.9% in the last 12 months through Thursday, while Apple’s share is up 65.6%, Uber is up 62.6% and Zscaler is up 249.8% . At the same time, the S&P 500 index SPX,
has gained 15.4%.