Mizuho Securities has lifted its price target for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares to $450 from $375, citing a more optimistic view of the electric vehicle market in 2026. 

The firm stated that potential tariff headwinds appear less severe than earlier expected, while EV production volumes are trending higher across major automakers. Mizuho also retained Tesla’s “Outperform” rating despite short-term industry challenges.

Mizuho’s take

Mizuho analysts now forecast Tesla will deliver about 1.91 million vehicles in 2026, slightly down from their previous estimate of 1.95 million but still above Wall Street consensus. The firm pointed to Tesla’s planned lower-cost “Model 2” and potential Robotaxi launches as key drivers for growth over the next two years.

“We see TSLA maintaining key leadership in the U.S. BEV market despite some near-term challenges,” Vijay Rakesh, managing director at Mizuho, wrote in a research note. 

The note also highlighted Elon Musk’s recently approved compensation package and his $1 billion stock purchase, which Mizuho believes could align incentives with Tesla’s long-term projects, as noted in a Yahoo Finance report. These include advancing autonomous driving technology and pushing development of humanoid robots, both of which remain central to Musk’s vision of the company’s future.

Similar insights

Mizuho is not the only firm that has cited Tesla’s long-term projects and the company’s leadership position in the AI and auto sector. In a recent note, Piper Sandler highlighted that despite the growing number of legitimate competitors for Tesla in places like China, the company still has a foundational role in shaping the industry’s direction, particularly in areas such as battery integration, vehicle software, and AI-powered features.

Piper Sandler also noted that competitors still look to Tesla for advancements in real-world AI applications. “Building AI-enabled machines requires data, talent, chips, and engineering prowess. Tesla compares favorably vs. the Chinese on all of these fronts,,” the firm noted.

Tesla has bolstered its Referral Program by offering more significant benefits for both the referrer and the referee. However, it only applies to certain vehicles in the Tesla lineup.

The Tesla Referral Program offers benefits to both car buyers and existing Tesla owners, including complimentary Full Self-Driving trials, free Supercharging miles, and discounts on select purchases, such as cars.

It changes relatively frequently, and is a great way to encourage people to buy a new car. Tesla is routinely making adjustments to it to stimulate demand, but the referral program likely does not encourage too many sales. Instead, it’s more of a reward for the referrer.

However, the latest adjustments are more substantial for both the buyer and the owner, offering pretty sizeable discounts on the purchase price of a Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck.

There are also discounts for current owners, giving them money off of all five Tesla vehicles.

Here’s the rundown of the new Referral Program awards:

• You’ll earn $250 in Tesla Credits for each person you refer who takes delivery of a new Tesla
• The first 10 people who order a new Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck using your referral link and take delivery will receive $1,000 off their purchase
• When you purchase a new Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck for yourself, you’ll get $1,000 off
• When you purchase a new Model 3 or Model Y, you’ll get $500 off
• Limited to 10 awards

Tesla changed the referral program slightly for those using your code! pic.twitter.com/JBFzKlxsJg

— David Lescatre Jr (@DavidLescatreJr) September 21, 2025

This is a pretty big discount as $1,000 off a Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck is a nice benefit to three of Tesla’s most expensive vehicles.

The additional $500 off a Model 3 or Model Y is also a nice cushion. A similar Referral Program was launched by Tesla last August.

Tesla has adjusted one portion of its “Actually Smart Summon” (ASS) feature to address a common complaint from owners: battery drain.

Teslas have a lot of really awesome features that make them one of the most technologically advanced vehicle models on the market. Things like Sentry Mode, Cabin Overheat Protection, and ASS’s “Summon Standby” features all keep the car on its toes for anything that comes its way.

Tesla finally launches Actually Smart Summon and Dumb Summon

However, the activation of these features contributes to battery drain while the vehicle sits parked. The amount varies, but I personally have lost up to five percent with some of these features active. That’s a lot if you do not utilize home charging.

Tesla is doing what it can to combat the battery drain with each of these features. It has done so with Sentry Mode, as an update last year helped combat battery percentage loss due to the activation of the security feature.

Tesla is about to ship a fix to a big Sentry Mode issue

It also recently introduced “Low Power Mode,” which will automatically deactivate some features if your battery falls below 20 percent. This is a great way to combat battery loss if your car is parked somewhere long-term, like an airport, for example.

There is also another feature that is attached to ASS called “Summon Standby.” This keeps the vehicle awake in case the owner needs quick connectivity to the vehicle, allowing them to summon the car to their location swiftly.

But there’s a drawback: keeping this feature activated will drain the battery. By default, the feature is activated when you take your car home, so you have to turn it off manually by accessing the settings menu inside the vehicle.

Turning this off would save you between 2% and 3% overnight, in my experience. With ASS still being a feature that needs some work, I chose to turn Summon Standby off. ASS will still work with the standby mode deactivated; it will just take a few more seconds for your phone to connect to the vehicle.

Tesla is adjusting Summon Standby’s settings slightly to combat the loss of battery life some owners might see with the feature active.

According to Not a Tesla App, Tesla has rolled out two conditions for which Summon Standby will be deactivated automatically:

Overnight Deactivation

Summon Standby will automatically be deactivated from midnight to 6 a.m. every night, which appears to be a data-driven decision made by Tesla based on the feature’s least-used hours.

This automatic pause cannot be turned off, at least for the time being.

Extended Parking Deactivation

If your Tesla is parked for over 24 hours, Summon Standby will also be deactivated automatically.

This is a great way to save battery life for those who are on vacation or are at home for several days in a row. This works similarly to the Low-Power Mode we talked about earlier in this article.