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Tesla ‘a disproportional beneficiary’ of China’s incoming green tidal wave: Dan Ives
Tesla is set to be “a disproportional beneficiary” of China’s growing adoption of electric vehicles and sustainable energy, according to Wedbush analyst and Tesla bull Dan Ives.
After navigating through a difficult few months in China, where Tesla combated unfair PR on several occasions that brought the safety of the company vehicles into question, Ives now believes that the automaker can now focus on expanding on its already solid foundation in the region. The Chinese market has been an exceptionally potent location for electric vehicle makers, becoming a main focus of several OEMs that are working to transition toward electrification. Tesla, while being a mainstay in China’s EV sales leaderboard for over a year, is primed to benefit from the market’s evergrowing love affair with the electric vehicle, continuing a monumental climb toward automotive legacy in the world’s largest car market.
Despite falsified reports of faulty braking systems on several occasions, Tesla has managed to be one of the best-selling EV manufacturers in China. In Q2, Tesla sold over 53,000 cars in China, capped off by an impressive 28,138 cars in the domestic market in June. The strong performance was fueled by demand for the Model 3 and Model Y, the two cars that Tesla manufactures in China at the Giga Shanghai production facility.
Although Tesla’s Q2 was a strong one, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Silicon Valley-based electric car company. As previously mentioned, Tesla battled several claims of brake failures in its vehicles. The initial occurrence of this was at the Shanghai Auto Show, where the Tesla booth was infiltrated by a woman who claimed faulty brakes caused a dangerous accident. Tesla navigated through this scandal, along with several others by continuously debunking these claims. The company eventually set up a Special Handling Team to handle these issues, and also threatened legal action for those who were attempting to gain notoriety or money through false claims.
Ives acknowledges Tesla’s bumpy and tumultuous road in China in Q2, but the performance, which is indicated through the strong sales figures during the PR nightmare, essentially proves the company is ready to move on to even more robust sales figures. “We believe Tesla have navigated the safety/PR issues better than expected, and are now in a position to accelerate market share in this key region,” Ives wrote.
In May, Ives also wrote that Tesla, along with other manufacturers like NIO, Xpeng, and Li Auto, would all benefit from an increasing EV market share in China. Ives wrote in the May note that only 5% of total automotive sales in China were EVs and that the next two years would result in a doubling of this market concentration of electrified models.
While China was bumpy during the quarter we believe Tesla have navigated the safety/PR issues better than expected and are now in a position to accelerate market share in this key region. We believe the green tidal wave is on the horizon with Tesla a disproportional beneficiary.
— Daniel Ives (@DivesTech) July 21, 2021
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In short, the benefits of a more supported EV market in China are going to fuel many automakers, but Tesla seems to be the one that Ives is putting his money on. This is mostly because of the fact that bad press really didn’t affect sales figures, and Tesla continues to perform in one of the most heavily concentrated EV markets globally.
Ives is ranked 43rd out of 7,591 analysts on TipRanks.com. He has a success rate of 74% and an average return of 35.3%.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
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This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
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Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
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Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) got an absolutely crazy price target rating from Raymond James after the company experienced a tough first few weeks following its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Despite the tumultuous start, SpaceX has plenty of believers, and the company’s massively successful Starship launch last Friday, its 13th test flight of the massive rocket, went so smoothly that Raymond James analysts pushed its price target on the company to roughly 7 times its current trading level.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The firm officially put a “Strong Buy” rating and an $800 price target on the stock. It currently trades at around $113. Its all-time high is $225.64, reaching this trading level shortly after shares first went public.
Raymond James’ price target is tied to the firm’s confidence after Starship’s 13th test flight. Analysts at the firm said it was an incremental step that reduces engineering risks, citing the widely successful heat shield test that CEO Elon Musk recently detailed, the smooth deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, and a successful in-space engine relight.
SpaceX also managed to see Starship splash down safely in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy Booster fell down to the Gulf of America with no incidents.
It is interesting to see these launches have such a tremendous impact on the stock and what investors think of it. After SpaceX initially delayed the Starship launch last week, shares fell tremendously. Most probably did not realize that the stand-down is a standard practice, especially if everything is not perfect.
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The mission was initially aborted due to an issue with Raptor engines. This was resolved, and Starship launched last Friday after another delay on Thursday, which was caused by weather.
Now that analysts have seen what SpaceX launches are capable of and how impressive the feat is, firms are adjusting their price targets accordingly, making it known that they have high expectations for the space exploration company.
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
