Investor's Corner
Tesla stock reels in $900 following Elon Musk’s big space achievement, analyst upgrades
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) moves closer to the $900 mark after a big weekend for CEO Elon Musk. Musk qualified for the first tranche of his multibillion-dollar performance bonus, and SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts into space this past weekend. The electric automaker also received several upgrades from analysts based on Tesla’s future outlook in international markets.
Jairam Nathan of Daiwa Securities launched coverage of the automaker with a Buy rating and a $910 price target. He believes the electric automaker is a few short steps away from global dominance.
In a note to investors, Nathan wrote that Tesla is close to succeeding in international markets like China and Europe. Nathan believes that the company can have similar success in Europe and China, especially considering the Gigafactory production facilities that are being built in the two locations.
Simply put, Tesla is “on the cusp of replicating its success in the U.S. EV market to potentially larger markets in China and Europe,” the Daiwa analyst wrote, according to Barron’s.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives also increased his price target from $600 to $800. Ives stated, “we continue to believe EV demand in China is starting to accelerate with Tesla competing with a number of domestic and international competitors for this market share.”
At the time of writing, Tesla stock traded at $873.95, up 4.66%, or $38.95.
The surge in price could be attributed to projections that the electric vehicle sector will skyrocket in 2021 based on a new report by Cairn Energy Research Advisors, CNBC reported. Sam Jaffe of Cairn stated, “There’s pent-up demand for electric vehicles. We will see a combination of factors make 2021 an inflection point for the sale of electric vehicles.”
Musk’s success over the weekend with the newly-earned bonus and successful SpaceX launch may have attributed to the stock price increase as well. SpaceX became the first privatized company to successfully launch NASA astronauts into orbit.
Currently, Tesla’s two international production facilities are located in Shanghai, China, and Brandenburg, Germany. Shanghai is now producing around 4,000 Model 3 vehicles a week, while Berlin is still under construction and is set to begin manufacturing in July 2021.
Giga Shanghai has been producing variants of the Model 3 since December 2019, but Tesla did not begin delivering built cars to public customers until January 2020. The first cars built in the facility were initially given to employees and not Chinese citizens.
Since the first Model 3s were delivered to China’s first buyers of what has come to be known as the “Made in China” versions of the sedan, Tesla has continued to ramp its production rates and introduce new configurations of the vehicle. Currently, construction crews are also working on the second phase of the Chinese vehicle manufacturing plant, where Tesla’s latest car, the Model Y crossover, will be built.
The steady demand for Tesla’s electric cars has allowed the company to be recognized as one of China’s most popular EV brands. In April 2020, the Model 3 was the second most popular electric car in China, trailing the Qin Pro EV from Xi’an-based BYD Automotive. This information is according to the EV Sales Blog, a website that tracks the sale of electric cars around the world.
In Germany, Tesla is continuing to push toward the groundbreaking of its Gigafactory in Brandenburg, a state encircled by Berlin. Giga Berlin will supply the European markets with Tesla’s electric vehicles. The construction of this Gigafactory has encountered barriers from COVID-19 and residents’ concerns, but Tesla has managed to remain on schedule thanks to support from German politicians.
The Giga Berlin facility will employ 12,000 people, providing a positive impact on Germany’s economy.
Nathan’s outlook of dominance in Europe and China is backed by Tesla’s willingness to become a foreign automaker and establish a presence in countries other than the United States. With substantial support from the massive Chinese automotive market and European countries, there is plenty of speculation that Tesla will thrive even more when the company establishes production facilities in foreign lands.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.
SpaceX scrubbed the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt Thursday evening at the last possible moment, after four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence. The 90-minute window had opened at 6:45 p.m. EDT from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, and the countdown had proceeded without issue all day, with more than 11.5 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen being fully loaded into the rocket before the automated abort triggered. SpaceX’s launch directors posted on X, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt,” and shut down the livestream shortly after.
Musk confirmed the root cause within hours. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” he wrote on X. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.” SpaceX engineers began draining propellant tanks immediately and Booster 20 was rolled back to its hangar for inspection.
The timing adds a layer of significance that did not exist during any of the previous 12 Starship flights. This is the first time SpaceX has attempted to launch Starship since the company made its stock market debut in June, listing under ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Public investors are now watching every Starship outcome in real time, and a last-second abort carries more visibility than it would have six months ago.
Flight 13 was designed to be one of the most consequential tests in the program’s history. It was set to carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload Starship has ever attempted to deploy. Six of those satellites carried external cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield from the outside during flight, which would act as a self-inspection approach SpaceX has never attempted before. The mission also needed to complete a Raptor engine relight in space, a step SpaceX skipped on Flight 12 in May after losing an engine during ascent. That Flight 12 booster also flipped 90 degrees off course during its boostback burn when five engines failed to reignite.
SpaceX has not announced an official next launch date. Musk’s “early next week” window points to July 21 or 22 at the earliest, pending the engine swap and a return to the pad.
Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli responded to rumors of an imminent bankruptcy that was reportedly being mulled after a report stated the automaker was working with the firm AlixPartners to iron out its next steps.
The company felt a massive loss on Wall Street yesterday, as the report essentially pushed the stock down as much as 55 percent on Tuesday.
The report, published initially by Eletric-Vehicles.com, claimed Lucid was essentially in dire straits and was told by AlixPartners, a commonly used restructuring advisor, to either take shares private or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lucid’s head of Communications, Nick Twork, immediately challenged the report and stated the company “has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year.”
Now, the company’s CEO is chiming in as well, stating that the report is “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Napoli said:
“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period.
As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.
We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.
My priority is clear: turn this company around. That is where the leadership team and I are focused.
I look forward to providing a full update during our quarterly earnings call on August 4th.”
🚨 Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli calls rumors of financial issues “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Read his full remarks here: https://t.co/t3Pg1NHvzy pic.twitter.com/LvHUPhO4Qf
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2026
It seems pretty clear that Lucid is confident things will be okay, and, to be honest, they should not have much to worry about, especially considering the company has been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for years. It has solid financial backing, and its sales, while weak, are pretty much right on par with a company of this age.
Lucid also sent a Cease & Desist letter to the publication for their report.
Lucid shares have rebounded nicely and are up nearly 21 percent at the time of publication. As soon as the company dispelled the rumors of bankruptcy yesterday, the stock began to climb back toward more reasonable levels.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
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