Investor's Corner
Tesla announces new General Counsel ahead of Q4’s end-of-quarter Model 3 push
Tesla has announced that it is welcoming Dane Butswinkas, the Chairman of Williams & Connolly and a veteran trial lawyer, as the company’s new General Counsel. Dane will be replacing Todd Maron, who has led Tesla’s legal department for the past five years. The outgoing Maron will remain in Tesla until January to ensure a smooth handover of his responsibilities to the new General Counsel.
In a blog post about the new appointment, Tesla noted that the company and Maron have worked on a plan for the handover since July 2018. Maron has had a long history with Elon Musk, having served as the CEO’s divorce attorney even before he was hired as Tesla’s General Counsel. In a statement, Maron noted that his tenure with the electric car maker had been a noteworthy experience.
“Being part of Tesla for the last five years has been the highlight of my career. Tesla has been like family to me, and I am extremely grateful to Elon, the board, the executive team, and everyone at Tesla for allowing me to play a part in this incredible company,” the outgoing General Counsel said.
Dane Butswinkas will be bringing decades of legal experience to Tesla. The seasoned trial lawyer has served almost 30 years at Williams & Connolly, where he worked as a Co-Chair of the legal firm’s Commercial Litigation and Financial Services and Banking Groups. Tesla notes that Dane will be reporting directly under Elon Musk, as he oversees the company’s legal and government relations teams.
In a statement about his new position, Dane noted that he never really expected to work as an in-house General Counsel for a company. That said, the trial lawyer stated that Tesla’s mission is something that he believes to be essential — and thus, worth fighting for.
“Williams & Connolly will always have been my first home. The lawyers there are the finest in the world. After 30 years as a trial lawyer at Williams & Connolly, I would have never imagined joining a company in-house. But Tesla presents a unique and inspiring opportunity. Tesla’s mission is bigger than Tesla – one that is critical to the future of our planet. It’s hard to identify a mission more timely, more essential, or more worth fighting for,” he said.
Dave Butswinkas’ appointment as General Counsel stands as one of Tesla’s notable executive shakeups in recent months. Just last month, Tesla also announced that finance veteran Robyn Denholm was replacing Elon Musk as the company’s Chair of the Board. Denholm’s appointment was part of Elon Musk’s settlement with the SEC, following the latter’s lawsuit over the CEO’s “funding secured” tweet last August.
The announcement of Tesla’s new General Counsel comes as the company prepares for a widespread push for the Model 3 this December. Tesla has exhibited a tendency to push Model 3 production and deliveries in the final month of a quarter. During March and June, for example, Tesla adopted this strategy to hit its targets of producing 2,500 and 5,000 Model 3 per week, respectively. In the third quarter, which was marked by what Elon Musk described as “delivery logistics hell,” the final month of Q3 was characterized by a massive, community-driven push to handover as many vehicles as possible.
With Q4 being the final quarter where Model 3 buyers can qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit, the number of electric cars that Tesla will deliver this December would likely be historic once more. Elon Musk even announced that Tesla had acquired trucking companies and services to ensure that those who placed orders for the Model 3 would take delivery of their vehicles before the end of December.
Ultimately, the appointment of Dane Butswinkas could prove to be a strategic move for the electric car maker. Tesla, after all, is on the cusp of what could very well be another transition, as it expands its production operations to foreign countries such as China, and as the Model 3 starts entering international markets. Amidst these changes, as well as the company’s legal challenges and existing regulatory probes from the SEC, the expertise of the veteran trial lawyer would likely prove invaluable.
Tesla received a price target boost from Morgan Stanley, according to a new note on Monday morning, but there is some considerable caution also being communicated over the next year or so.
Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco took over Tesla coverage for the firm from longtime bull Adam Jonas, who appears to be focusing on embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
Percoco took over and immediately adjusted the price target for Tesla from $410 to $425, and changed its rating on shares from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco said he believes Tesla is the leading company in terms of electric vehicles, manufacturing, renewable energy, and real-world AI, so it deserves a premium valuation. However, he admits the high expectations for the company could provide for a “choppy trading environment” for the next year.
He wrote:
“However, high expectations on the latter have brought the stock closer to fair valuation. While it is well understood that Tesla is more than an auto manufacturer, we expect a choppy trading environment for the TSLA shares over the next 12 months, as we see downside to estimates, while the catalysts for its non-auto businesses appear priced at current levels.”
Percoco also added that if market cap hurdles are achieved, Morgan Stanley would reduce its price target by 7 percent.
Perhaps the biggest change with Percoco taking over the analysis for Jonas is how he will determine the value of each individual project. For example, he believes Optimus is worth about $60 per share of equity value.
He went on to describe the potential value of Full Self-Driving, highlighting its importance to the Tesla valuation:
“Full Self Driving (FSD) is the crown jewel of Tesla’s auto business; we believe that its leading-edge personal autonomous driving offering is a real game changer, and will remain a significant competitive advantage over its EV and non-EV peers. As Tesla continues to improve its platform with increased levels of autonomy (i.e., hands-off, eyes-off), it will revolutionize the personal driving experience. It remains to be seen if others will be able to keep pace.”
Additionally, Percoco outlined both bear and bull cases for the stock. He believes $860 per share, “which could be in play in the next 12 months if Tesla manages through the EV-downturn,” while also scaling Robotaxi, executing on unsupervised FSD, and scaling Optimus, is in play for the bull case.
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Meanwhile, the bear case is placed at $145 per share, and “assumes greater competition and margin pressure across all business lines, embedding zero value for humanoids, slowing the growth curve for Tesla’s robotaxi fleet to reflect regulatory challenges in scaling a vision-only perception stack, and lowering market share and margin profile for the autos and energy businesses.”
Currently, Tesla shares are trading at around $441.
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.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
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.
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