Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) 2021 Outlook: Deutsche Bank boosts guidance after record-setting year
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has received some of its first outlooks from financial firms for 2021. Deutsche Bank is one of these firms, and the Wall Street-based company boosted its 2021 delivery guidance and revised its price target for the electric automaker.
Deutsche Bank went into the New Year paying close attention to Tesla’s 2020 delivery figures, as the company was chasing a lofty, but attainable, 500,000 vehicle production and delivery goal. Tesla released its Full-Year 2020 and Q4 2020 production and delivery figures on Saturday, revealing that it had attained its goals. For many years, Tesla has looked at 2020 as the year it would deliver half-a-million cars to its consumers, and many analysts looked at the company in doubt and disbelief, only to be proven wrong when the time came.
After Tesla’s remarkable 2020 showing, Deutsche Bank believes 2021 could be “pivotal” for the company’s future “with material revenue acceleration, benefitting from ramping up capacity and product lines across the globe.”
Tesla’s PT raised to $705 at Deutsche Bank$TSLA
— David Tayar (@davidtayar5) January 4, 2021
Deutsche Bank said that it had raised its 2021 delivery forecast by 25,000 cars, from 775,000 to 800,000, “taking revenue to $46bn, in-line with consensus,” analysts at the firm wrote in a note to investors. “Mid-term, we believe Tesla’s impressive target trajectory for its technology, capacity, and especially cost could help accelerate the world’s shift to electric vehicles and extend Tesla’s EV lead considerably,” the note also stated.
Tesla was, without a doubt, the big winner in the automotive industry in 2020. Only ten major automakers were able to report positive numbers in Q3 2020 compared to Q3 2019, and Tesla was the only one that was able to report substantial growth when comparing the two figures. After a 154.7% growth from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020, according to GoodCarBadCar, it was evident that EVs are here, and the ones that dawn the notorious Tesla “T” on the hood are the most popular.
It seemed like 2020 was a lost cause at the beginning of Q2 because Tesla was already forced to shut down Giga Shanghai in China and the Fremont Factory in Northern California due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fremont, Tesla’s main facility, was closed for around a month and a half, which cause the automaker to report sub-100,000 numbers for the second quarter of the year. Many people considered it a lethal blow to Tesla’s 500k goal, but the automaker pulled out one of the most remarkable production and delivery pushes that it will likely ever see in its history.
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Deutsche Bank is still banking on 2025 being Tesla’s breakout year, with a revenue of $94 billion and more than 2 million cars delivered during that year. However, near term forecasts still see significant growth in production and demand taking place, especially considering Tesla has two large-scale production facilities in the works in Texas and Germany.
Tesla also received a price target boost from $500 to $705, which is “based on the average of 50x our 2025 EPS (discounted back) and EV/sales multiple of 17.5x 2022 (vs. prior 12x) as we believe investor enthusiasm for high-quality pure EV plays and expected confirmation of ongoing technology lead by Tesla should continue to support higher valuation.”
Disclaimer: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
What do you think? Leave a comment down below. Got a tip? Email us at tips@teslarati.com or reach out to me at joey@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk
Tesla stock gets latest synopsis from Jim Cramer: ‘It’s actually a robotics company’
“Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session,” Cramer said.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) got its latest synopsis from Wall Street analyst Jim Cramer, who finally realized something that many fans of the company have known all along: it’s not a car company. Instead, it’s a robotics company.
In a recent note that was released after Tesla reported Earnings in late January, Cramer seemed to recognize that the underwhelming financials and overall performance of the automotive division were not representative of the current state of affairs.
Instead, we’re seeing a company transition itself away from its early identity, essentially evolving like a caterpillar into a butterfly.
The narrative of the Earnings Call was simple: We’re not a car company, at least not from a birds-eye view. We’re an AI and Robotics company, and we are transitioning to this quicker than most people realize.
Tesla stock gets another analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like it
Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call featured plenty of analysis from CEO Elon Musk and others, and some of the more minor details of the call were even indicative of a company that is moving toward AI instead of its cars. For example, the Model S and Model X will be no more after Q2, as Musk said that they serve relatively no purpose for the future.
Instead, Tesla is shifting its focus to the vehicles catered for autonomy and its Robotaxi and self-driving efforts.
Cramer recognizes this:
“…we got results from Tesla, which actually beat numbers, but nobody cares about the numbers here, as electric vehicles are the past. And according to CEO Elon Musk, the future of this company comes down to Cybercabs and humanoid robots. Stock fell more than 3% the next day. That may be because their capital expenditures budget was higher than expected, or maybe people wanted more details from the new businesses. At this point, I think Musk acolytes might be more excited about SpaceX, which is planning to come public later this year.”
He continued, highlighting the company’s true transition away from vehicles to its Cybercab, Optimus, and AI ambitions:
“I know it’s hard to believe how quickly this market can change its attitude. Last night, I heard a disastrous car company speak. Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session. I didn’t like it as a car company. Boy, I love it as a Cybercab and humanoid robot juggernaut. Call me a buyer and give me five robots while I’m at it.”
Cramer’s narrative seems to fit that of the most bullish Tesla investors. Anyone who is labeled a “permabull” has been echoing a similar sentiment over the past several years: Tesla is not a car company any longer.
Instead, the true focus is on the future and the potential that AI and Robotics bring to the company. It is truly difficult to put Tesla shares in the same group as companies like Ford, General Motors, and others.
Tesla shares are down less than half a percent at the time of publishing, trading at $423.69.
Elon Musk
Tesla to a $100T market cap? Elon Musk’s response may shock you
There are a lot of Tesla bulls out there who have astronomical expectations for the company, especially as its arm of reach has gone well past automotive and energy and entered artificial intelligence and robotics.
However, some of the most bullish Tesla investors believe the company could become worth $100 trillion, and CEO Elon Musk does not believe that number is completely out of the question, even if it sounds almost ridiculous.
To put that number into perspective, the top ten most valuable companies in the world — NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Meta, Saudi Aramco, Broadcom, and Tesla — are worth roughly $26 trillion.
Will Tesla join the fold? Predicting a triple merger with SpaceX and xAI
Cathie Wood of ARK Invest believes the number is reasonable considering Tesla’s long-reaching industry ambitions:
“…in the world of AI, what do you have to have to win? You have to have proprietary data, and think about all the proprietary data he has, different kinds of proprietary data. Tesla, the language of the road; Neuralink, multiomics data; nobody else has that data. X, nobody else has that data either. I could see $100 trillion. I think it’s going to happen because of convergence. I think Tesla is the leading candidate [for $100 trillion] for the reason I just said.”
Musk said late last year that all of his companies seem to be “heading toward convergence,” and it’s started to come to fruition. Tesla invested in xAI, as revealed in its Q4 Earnings Shareholder Deck, and SpaceX recently acquired xAI, marking the first step in the potential for a massive umbrella of companies under Musk’s watch.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
Now that it is happening, it seems Musk is even more enthusiastic about a massive valuation that would swell to nearly four-times the value of the top ten most valuable companies in the world currently, as he said on X, the idea of a $100 trillion valuation is “not impossible.”
It’s not impossible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2026
Tesla is not just a car company. With its many projects, including the launch of Robotaxi, the progress of the Optimus robot, and its AI ambitions, it has the potential to continue gaining value at an accelerating rate.
Musk’s comments show his confidence in Tesla’s numerous projects, especially as some begin to mature and some head toward their initial stages.
Elon Musk
Tesla director pay lawsuit sees lawyer fees slashed by $100 million
The ruling leaves the case’s underlying settlement intact while significantly reducing what the plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive.
The Delaware Supreme Court has cut more than $100 million from a legal fee award tied to a shareholder lawsuit challenging compensation paid to Tesla directors between 2017 and 2020.
The ruling leaves the case’s underlying settlement intact while significantly reducing what the plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive.
Delaware Supreme Court trims legal fees
As noted in a Bloomberg Law report, the case targeted pay granted to Tesla directors, including CEO Elon Musk, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Kimbal Musk, and Rupert Murdoch. The Delaware Chancery Court had awarded $176 million to the plaintiffs. Tesla’s board must also return stock options and forego years worth of pay.
As per Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. in an opinion for the Delaware Supreme Court’s full five-member panel, however, the decision of the Delaware Chancery Court to award $176 million to a pension fund’s law firm “erred by including in its financial benefit analysis the intrinsic value” of options being returned by Tesla’s board.
The justices then reduced the fee award from $176 million to $70.9 million. “As we measure it, $71 million reflects a reasonable fee for counsel’s efforts and does not result in a windfall,” Chief Justice Seitz wrote.
Other settlement terms still intact
The Supreme Court upheld the settlement itself, which requires Tesla’s board to return stock and options valued at up to $735 million and to forgo three years of additional compensation worth about $184 million.
Tesla argued during oral arguments that a fee award closer to $70 million would be appropriate. Interestingly enough, back in October, Justice Karen L. Valihura noted that the $176 award was $60 million more than the Delaware judiciary’s budget from the previous year. This was quite interesting as the case was “settled midstream.”
The lawsuit was brought by a pension fund on behalf of Tesla shareholders and focused exclusively on director pay during the 2017–2020 period. The case is separate from other high-profile compensation disputes involving Elon Musk.