Investor's Corner
Tesla fans from Korea have amassed $15 billion worth of TSLA
Tesla fans from South Korea are going all-in on the electric vehicle maker, so much so that retail investors in the country now hold about 1.6% of the company. This makes the collective stake of South Korean TSLA investors more substantial than some of the company’s biggest shareholders, such as T. Rowe Price Group Inc.
Amidst the growing wealth gap in South Korea, retail investors have taken on the habit of purchasing stocks that are both high-risk and high-reward. Tesla, arguably one of the market’s most volatile stocks, has become a favorite. Throughout the pandemic, South Korean TSLA investors have increased their combined holdings more than a hundredfold, to more than $15 billion.
As noted in a Bloomberg News report, some South Korea-based retail shareholders have decided to go all-in on TSLA. Among these were Park Sunghyun and her husband, who sold their home in Seoul and moved to a rental apartment with their 7-year-old child. The family put its $230,000 savings into TSLA stock. It’s a risky bet, but it was one of their best options.
In a statement to the publication, Park noted that she and her husband actually wanted to purchase a bigger home after selling their house in late 2019, but they were left stranded as real estate prices in Seoul saw a massive increase. As the cost of apartments in the greater Seoul metropolitan area doubled over the past five years, they found themselves in a tight spot.
“I thought I would live well by working at a good company after college, but the reality is that we are the poorest in our neighborhood. Living as a salaried worker, there are so many limitations,” Park said.
As any Tesla retail investor would know, investing in TSLA stock is not for the faint-hearted. Despite the volatility, as well as the fact that Tesla shares have dropped over 25% since their 2021 high, Park noted that they’re still up 1,900% over the past three years. This compares very favorably to the results of Samsung Electronics Co.— South Korea’s most widely-held stock — which saw an increase of 40%.
Tesla has become very popular among younger Koreans as well, especially those with fewer assets than family units like the Parks. Son Gilhun, a 27-year-old forklift driver, noted that he eventually fell into a panic because he realized that he might never be able to afford a home. Through sheer hard work and discipline, the forklift driver decided to follow the example of his older colleagues and bought stocks.
Son placed half of his $2,000 monthly paycheck into equities and lived frugally. He gambled heavily on Tesla, which ultimately helped him amass a stock portfolio worth about $100,000 during the pandemic. In June, when TSLA shares fell below $700, he boosted his stake in the electric vehicle maker and trimmed his holdings in Korean companies. Today, Son hopes to purchase a Tesla for himself, and later on, purchase a house.
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Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
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For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Investor's Corner
Mizuho keeps Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but lowers price target
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target to $475 from $485, citing potential 2026 EV subsidy cuts in the U.S. and China that could pressure deliveries. The firm maintained its Outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, however.
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected. The U.S. accounted for roughly 37% of Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 sales, while China represented about 34%, making both markets highly sensitive to policy shifts. Potential 50% cuts to Chinese subsidies and reduced U.S. incentives affected the firm’s outlook.
With those pressures factored in, the firm now expects Tesla to deliver 1.75 million vehicles in 2026 and 2 million in 2027, slightly below consensus estimates of 1.82 million and 2.15 million, respectively. The analyst was cautiously optimistic, as near-term pressure from subsidies is there, but the company’s long-term tech roadmap remains very compelling.
Despite the revised target, Mizuho remained optimistic on Tesla’s long-term technology roadmap. The firm highlighted three major growth drivers into 2027: the broader adoption of Full Self-Driving V14, the expansion of Tesla’s Robotaxi service, and the commercialization of Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot.
“We are lowering TSLA Ests/PT to $475 with Potential BEV headwinds in 2026E. We believe into 2026E, US (~37% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) EV subsidy cuts and China (34% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) potential 50% EV subsidy cuts could be a headwind to EV deliveries.
“We are now estimating TSLA deliveries for 2026/27E at 1.75M/2.00M (slightly below cons. 1.82M/2.15M). We see some LT drivers with FSD v14 adoption for autonomous, robotaxi launches, and humanoid robots into 2027 driving strength,” the analyst noted.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) has landed an elusive “must own” status from Wall Street firm Melius, according to a new note released early this week.
Analyst Rob Wertheimer said Tesla will lead the charge in world-changing tech, given the company’s focus on self-driving, autonomy, and Robotaxi. In a note to investors, Wertheimer said “the world is about to change, dramatically,” because of the advent of self-driving cars.
He looks at the industry and sees many potential players, but the firm says there will only be one true winner:
“Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”
The major argument is that autonomy is nearing a tipping point where years of chipping away at the software and data needed to develop a sound, safe, and effective form of autonomous driving technology turn into an avalanche of progress.
Wertheimer believes autonomy is a $7 trillion sector,” and in the coming years, investors will see “hundreds of billions in value shift to Tesla.”
A lot of the major growth has to do with the all-too-common “butts in seats” strategy, as Wertheimer believes that only a fraction of people in the United States have ridden in a self-driving car. In Tesla’s regard, only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) version, which is v14.
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When it reaches a widespread rollout and more people are able to experience Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, he believes “it will shock most people.”
Citing things like Tesla’s massive data pool from its vehicles, as well as its shift to end-to-end neural nets in 2021 and 2022, as well as the upcoming AI5 chip, which will be put into a handful of vehicles next year, but will reach a wider rollout in 2027, Melius believes many investors are not aware of the pace of advancement in self-driving.
Tesla’s lead in its self-driving efforts is expanding, Wertheimer says. The company is making strategic choices on everything from hardware to software, manufacturing, and overall vehicle design. He says Tesla has left legacy automakers struggling to keep pace as they still rely on outdated architectures and fragmented supplier systems.
Tesla shares are up over 6 percent at 10:40 a.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $416.
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