Investor's Corner
Tesla embraced by Wall St. as rave reviews for Model 3 Performance continue to roll in
Nearly a week after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) surprised Wall Street with a relatively better-than-expected earnings report and a more humble Elon Musk, investors held steady, skirting any stock sell-off to retain a 15% gain or roughly $7 billion in market cap. Investor confidence can be attributed to Wall Street’s more optimistic outlook on the company’s immediate future, as well as the consistently positive reviews being received by the Model 3 Performance.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas recently maintained an equal-weight rating on the company’s shares and a $291 price target, citing a higher forecast for Tesla’s deliveries in the third quarter. Jonas still believes that Tesla would need to raise around $2.5 billion sometime this year, but he sees the electric car maker delivering 50,400 Model 3 in Q3, more than 30% up from his previous delivery forecast of 33,600 for the third quarter.
“It seems the company has been forced to think more creatively about how to run a leaner operation following its various operational and manufacturing issues. Tesla appears to be applying a greater amount of cash discipline,” Jonas said.
Tesla’s stock has held steady since the company’s successful Q2 earnings call, which saw the Elon Musk and other executives affirm their goals of making Tesla cash flow positive in the third quarter moving forward. Contrary to Jonas’ expectations, Musk was firm in the idea that Tesla will not be raising equity at any time soon, with projects such as Gigafactory 3 in China being funded by local debt.
“We do not – we will not be raising any equity at any point, at least that’s – I have no expectation of doing so, do not plan to do so. For China, I think, our default plan will be to use essentially a loan from the local banks in China and fund the Gigafactory in Shanghai with local debt, essentially. And we certainly could raise money, but I think we don’t need to and we – yeah, I think, it’s better to – it is better discipline not to,” Musk said.
Amidst what appears to be a stabilization in TSLA stock are rave reviews from major auto publications about the Model 3 Performance. The Wall Street Journal‘s Dan Neil described the car as a “magnificent” piece of auto engineering that is “representative of the next step in the history of autos.” Kim Reynolds of Motor Trend, while describing a brief sprint in a freeway ramp, stated that “in maybe 120 wheel revolutions, a high-performance hierarchy has been rattled.” Veteran auto journalist Matthew DeBord wrote in a test drive of the vehicle that with the Model 3 Performance, “velocity simply happens… like you’ve Vulcan mind-melded with the laws of physics.”
Even Jalopnik, a publication that is never one to hesitate when pointing out Tesla’s flaws, gave a positive review of the vehicle, with journalist Patrick George calling the car “the most impressive Tesla I’ve driven to date, and easily the most fun.” Mike Ballaban, also from Jalopnik, even raved about the car’s seats, stating that the Model 3 now “takes the crown for Best Seats,” beating out Volvo’s legendary seats in the S60.
The rave reviews showering the Model 3 Performance could be seen as a validation of the massive sprung structure that Tesla built near the end of the second quarter to hit its goal of producing 5,000 units of the electric car in a week. Among the assumptions expressed by Tesla’s critics about the new assembly line was that they would result in vehicles with poor build quality. Tesla VP for trucks Jerome Guillen stated in the Q2 earnings call that all Model 3 Performance are assembled in the sprung structure, but so far, there have been no complaints or even comments about build quality in all the professional reviews that have been written of the vehicle.
The Model 3 Performance is quickly developing into one of Tesla’s most compelling vehicles to date. Apart from the fun factor, it provides due to its nimble nature, the vehicle’s performance figures are also starting to impress. The Model 3 Performance has been recorded showing numbers superior to Tesla’s estimates, with a recent 0-60 mph run with a full battery being listed at 3.18 seconds, far quicker than its listed 3.5-second 0-60 time.
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm on self-driving prowess
“Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving, supported by a camera-only approach that is technically harder but much cheaper than the multi-sensor systems widely used in the industry. This strategy should allow Tesla to scale more profitably compared to Robotaxi competitors, helped by a growing data engine from its existing fleet,” BoA wrote.
Tesla received a tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm Bank of America on Wednesday, as it reinitiated coverage on Tesla shares with a bullish stance that comes with a ‘Buy’ rating and a $460 price target.
In a new note that marks a sharp reversal from its neutral position earlier in 2025, the bank declared Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology the “leading consumer autonomy solution.”
Analysts highlighted Tesla’s camera-only architecture, known as Tesla Vision, as a strategic masterstroke. While technically more challenging than the multi-sensor setups favored by rivals, the vision-based approach is dramatically cheaper to produce and maintain.
This cost edge, combined with Tesla’s rapidly expanding real-world data engine, positions the company to scale robotaxis far more profitably than competitors, BofA argues in the new note:
“Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving, supported by a camera-only approach that is technically harder but much cheaper than the multi-sensor systems widely used in the industry. This strategy should allow Tesla to scale more profitably compared to Robotaxi competitors, helped by a growing data engine from its existing fleet.”
The bank now attributes roughly 52% of Tesla’s total valuation to its Robotaxi ambitions. It also flagged meaningful upside from the Optimus humanoid robot program and the fast-growing energy storage business, suggesting the auto segment’s recent headwinds, including expired incentives, are being eclipsed by these higher-margin opportunities.
Tesla’s own data underscores exactly why Wall Street is waking up to FSD’s potential. According to Tesla’s official safety reporting page, the FSD Supervised fleet has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles driven.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
That total ballooned from just 6 million miles in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and a staggering 4.25 billion in 2025 alone. In the first 50 days of 2026, owners added another 1 billion miles — averaging more than 20 million miles per day.
This avalanche of real-world, camera-captured footage, much of it on complex city streets, gives Tesla an unmatched training dataset. Every mile feeds its neural networks, accelerating improvement cycles that lidar-dependent rivals simply cannot match at scale.
Tesla owners themselves will tell you the suite gets better with every release, bringing new features and improvements to its self-driving project.
The $460 target implies roughly 15 percent upside from recent trading levels around $400. While regulatory and safety hurdles remain, BofA’s endorsement signals growing institutional conviction that Tesla’s data advantage is not hype; it’s a tangible moat already delivering billions of miles of proof.
Elon Musk
SpaceX IPO could push Elon Musk’s net worth past $1 trillion: Polymarket
The estimates were shared by the official Polymarket Money account on social media platform X.
Recent projections have outlined how a potential $1.75 trillion SpaceX IPO could generate historic returns for early investors. The projections suggest the offering would not only become the largest IPO in history but could also result in unprecedented windfalls for some of the company’s key investors.
The estimates were shared by the official Polymarket Money account on social media platform X.
As noted in a Polymarket Money analysis, Elon Musk invested $100 million into SpaceX in 2002 and currently owns approximately 42% of the company. At a $1.75 trillion valuation following SpaceX’s potential $1.75 trillion IPO, that stake would be worth roughly $735 billion.
Such a figure would dramatically expand Musk’s net worth. When combined with his holdings in Tesla Inc. and other ventures, a public debut at that level could position him as the world’s first trillionaire, depending on market conditions at the time of listing.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index currently lists Elon Musk with a net worth of $666 billion, though a notable portion of this is tied to his TSLA stock. Tesla currently holds a market cap of $1.51 trillion, and Elon Musk’s currently holds about 13% to 15% of the company’s outstanding common stock.
Founders Fund, co-founded by Peter Thiel, invested $20 million in SpaceX in 2008. Polymarket Money estimates the firm owns between 1.5% and 3% of the private space company. At a $1.75 trillion valuation, that range would translate to approximately $26.25 billion to $52.5 billion in value.
That return would represent one of the most significant venture capital outcomes in modern Silicon Valley history, with a growth of 131,150% to 262,400%.
Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, invested $900 million into SpaceX in 2015 and is estimated to hold between 6% and 7% of the private space firm. At the projected IPO valuation, that stake could be worth between $105 billion and $122.5 billion. That’s a growth of 11,566% to 14,455%.
Other major backers highlighted in the post include Fidelity Investments, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, Bank of America, and Andreessen Horowitz, each potentially sitting on multibillion-dollar gains.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk hints Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet,” Musk said.
Elon Musk recently hinted that he believes Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily if they continue to hold onto their shares, and he reiterated that in a new interview that the company released on its social accounts this week.
Musk is one of the most successful CEOs in the modern era and has mammothed competitors on the Forbes Net Worth List over the past year as his holdings in his various companies have continued to swell.
Tesla investors, especially those who have been holding shares for several years, have also felt substantial gains in their portfolios. Over the past five years, the stock is up over 78 percent. Since February 2019, nearly seven years ago to the day, the stock is up over 1,800 percent.
Musk said in the interview:
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.”
Elon Musk in new interview: “Hold on to your $TSLA stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.” pic.twitter.com/cucirBuhq0
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 26, 2026
It’s no secret Musk has been extremely bullish on his own companies, but Tesla in particular, because it is publicly traded.
However, the company has so many amazing projects that have an opportunity to revolutionize their respective industries. There is certainly a path to major growth on Wall Street for Tesla through its various future projects, including Optimus, Cybercab, Semi, and Unsupervised FSD.
- Optimus (Tesla’s humanoid robot): Musk has discussed its potential for tasks like childcare, walking dogs, or assisting elderly parents, positioning it as a massive long-term driver of company value.
- Cybercab (Tesla’s robotaxi/autonomous ride-hailing vehicle): a fully autonomous vehicle geared specifically for Tesla’s ride-sharing ambitions.
- Semi (Tesla’s electric truck, with mentions of expansion, like in Europe): brings Tesla into the commercial logistics sector.
- Unsupervised FSD (Full Self-Driving software achieving full autonomy without human supervision): turns every Tesla owner’s vehicle into a fully-autonomous vehicle upon release
These projects specifically are some of the highest-growth pillars Tesla has ever attempted to develop, especially in Musk’s eyes, as he has said Optimus will be the best-selling product of all-time.
Many analysts agree, but the bullish ones, like Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, are perhaps the one who believes Tesla has incredible potential on Wall Street, predicting a $2,600 price target for 2030, but this is not even including Optimus.
She told Bloomberg last March that she believes that the project will present a potential additive if Tesla can scale faster than anticipated.
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