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.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Full Self-Driving statistic impresses Wall Street firm: ‘Very close to unsupervised’
The data shows there was a significant jump in miles traveled between interventions as Tesla transitioned drivers to v14.1 back in October. The FSD Community Tracker saw a jump from 441 miles to over 9,200 miles, the most significant improvement in four years.
Tesla Full Self-Driving performance and statistics continue to impress everyone, from retail investors to Wall Street firms. However, one analyst believes Tesla’s driving suite is “very close” to achieving unsupervised self-driving.
On Tuesday, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter said that Tesla’s recent launch of Full Self-Driving version 14 increased the number of miles traveled between interventions by a drastic margin, based on data compiled by a Full Self-Driving Community Tracker.
🚨 Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and $500 PT on Tesla $TSLA stock
Analyst Alexander Potter said FSD is near full autonomy and latest versions showed the largest improvement in disengagements, from 440 miles to 9,200 miles between critical interventions pic.twitter.com/u4WCLfZcA9
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 9, 2025
The data shows there was a significant jump in miles traveled between interventions as Tesla transitioned drivers to v14.1 back in October. The FSD Community Tracker saw a jump from 441 miles to over 9,200 miles, the most significant improvement in four years.
Interestingly, there was a slight dip in the miles traveled between interventions with the release of v14.2. Piper Sandler said investor interest in FSD has increased.
Full Self-Driving has displayed several improvements with v14, including the introduction of Arrival Options that allow specific parking situations to be chosen by the driver prior to arriving at the destination. Owners can choose from Street Parking, Parking Garages, Parking Lots, Chargers, and Driveways.
Additionally, the overall improvements in performance from v13 have been evident through smoother operation, fewer mistakes during routine operation, and a more refined decision-making process.
Early versions of v14 exhibited stuttering and brake stabbing, but Tesla did a great job of confronting the issue and eliminating it altogether with the release of v14.2.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also recently stated that the current v14.2 FSD suite is also less restrictive with drivers looking at their phones, which has caused some controversy within the community.
Although we tested it and found there were fewer nudges by the driver monitoring system to push eyes back to the road, we still would not recommend it due to laws and regulations.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.1 texting and driving: we tested it
With that being said, FSD is improving significantly with each larger rollout, and Musk believes the final piece of the puzzle will be unveiled with FSD v14.3, which could come later this year or early in 2026.
Piper Sandler reaffirmed its $500 price target on Tesla shares, as well as its ‘Overweight’ rating.
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.
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