Investor's Corner
Tesla’s growth story continues in manufacturing and not autonomy: Morgan Stanley
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) growth story has leaned on the potential of autonomous, self-driving vehicles revolutionizing the way everyday transportation is performed. While Tesla has developed its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving suites with relative success in the past several years, Morgan Stanley analysts are not convinced that autonomous driving programs will continue to fuel the automaker’s growth story and continuing expansion. Instead, Tesla’s bread and butter, which is vehicle manufacturing, along with other strengths like material sourcing, supply chain, and infrastructure development, is where the financial firm is putting its money.
It is no secret Tesla has fallen short with its FSD and Robotaxi plans, as CEO Elon Musk has predicted since 2018 that the automaker would complete its venture into fully-autonomous vehicles. However, each year has gone by with a new set of challenges, whether they would be based on manufacturing or the supply of necessary parts, further delaying the rollout of a “feature complete” FSD suite or a rollout of the planned Robotaxi fleet. This has led to some skepticism about whether the electric car company will really continue its monumental pace of growth through that medium, and not another, which Tesla has already proven to be well-versed in: manufacturing.
Tesla manufacturing prowess, stock split plans indicate ‘massive position of strength:’ Wedbush
A new note to investors from Adam Jonas and other analysts at Morgan Stanley seems to indicate the latter, that Tesla’s true road to continuing expansion and increased valuations is a focus on what it does best. For the past several years, Tesla has focused intently on increasing manufacturing efficiency and accuracy, and it has ultimately led to a streak of nine consecutive quarters of growth in vehicle deliveries. While that streak may be in jeopardy due to the shutdowns of its most-productive factory, which is in Shanghai, there is still evidence to suggest that Tesla’s best way to continue growing is through its production prowess.
“With respect to Tesla, we think attributes like AI, autonomous, and EV are fully, if not over-appreciated here,” the analysts wrote in their note. “In fact, we believe Tesla’s more ‘gritty’ capabilities in terms of manufacturing, material sourcing, supply chain, and infrastructure will drive the next leg of growth to the story.”
Tesla will trade with increased volatility in the coming weeks and months, Morgan Stanley predicted in the new note. The company’s focus on its autonomy may be dragging down expectations for the stock, as Tesla continues to push its belief that FSD and Level 4 to Level 5 autonomy will be arriving by the end of the year. The analysts see this as a major issue in Tesla’s outlook moving forward:
“Firstly, we think the core auto margin is too high at this point, as it does not fully reflect input cost inflation. Secondly, we believe expectations of full autonomy or FSD ‘flipping’ into a major near-term margin boost are overestimated. In fact, we believe L4/L5 autonomy at scale is well over a decade away. It will come folks, but it’s too darn difficult.”
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- Credit: Gary Black | Twitter
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- Credit: Gary Black | Twitter
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- Credit: Gary Black | Twitter
In reality, Tesla has made major strides in its FSD program through the Beta fleet, and Autopilot is coming off of one of its safest years in history when compared to nationwide accident data from the NHTSA. But whether Tesla will solve full autonomy by the end of the year as Musk expects truly remains to be seen.
Musk remains confident with Tesla’s development of FSD and said earlier this year that he would be “shocked” if the company cannot effectively develop major improvements and complete the suite by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet will likely come with a dedicated vehicle design in the coming years, based on predictions from company executives during its most recent earnings call. While Tesla’s outlook on Robotaxis was previously about owners making money from the operation of the ride-sharing service, the automaker has shifted to another perspective, which aligns more with its focus on sustainability. Read more about that here.
Jonas still holds a $1,300 price target on Tesla stock with an ‘Overweight’ rating.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk
Tesla analyst says Musk stock buy should send this signal to investors
“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased roughly $1 billion in Tesla shares on Friday, and analysts are now breaking down the move as the stock is headed upward.
One of them is William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who said in a new note to investors on Monday that Musk’s move should send a signal of confidence to stock buyers, especially considering the company’s numerous catalysts that currently exist.
Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever
Dorsheimer said in the note:
“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish. This purchase is Musk’s first buy since 2020. To us, this sends a strong signal of confidence in the most important part of Tesla’s future business, robotaxi.”
Musk putting an additional $1 billion back into the company in the form of more stock ownership is obviously a huge vote of confidence.
He knows more than anyone about the progress Tesla has made and is making on the Robotaxi platform, as well as the company’s ongoing efforts to solve vehicle autonomy. If he’s buying stock, it is more than likely a good sign.
Tesla has continued to expand its Robotaxi platform in a number of ways. The project has gotten bigger in terms of service area, vehicle fleet, and testing population. Tesla has also recently received a permit to test in Nevada, unlocking the potential to expand into a brand-new state for the company.
In the note, Dorsheimer also touched on Musk’s recent pay package, revealing that William Blair recently met with Tesla’s Board of Directors, who gave the firm some more color on the situation:
“We recently participated in a meeting with Tesla’s board of directors to discuss the details of Musk’s performance package. The board is confident of its position in the Delaware case and anticipates a verdict by end of year. It does not expect a similar situation to occur under new Texas jurisdiction. Musk has the board’s full support, and we expect he’ll get more than enough shareholder support for this to pass with flying colors.”
Tesla stock is up over 6 percent so far today, trading at $421.50 at the time of publication.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever
Prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rose on Monday after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a rare insider purchase of company stock worth about $1 billion.
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Musk acquired 2.57 million shares last Friday at various prices. The move represents Musk’s largest TSLA purchase ever by value, as per Verity data.
Elon Musk’s TSLA purchase
The disclosure sent Tesla shares up more than 8% in premarket trading Monday, as investors read the purchase as a notable vote of confidence, as stated in a CNBC report. Tesla stock had closed slightly lower Friday but remains more than 25% higher over the past three months. It should be noted that prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.
Market watchers say the purchase could help shore up investor sentiment amid a volatile year for TSLA stock. Shares have faced pressure from a variety of factors, from year-over-year sales challenges due to the new Model Y changeover, political controversies tied to Musk, and reduced U.S. incentives for EVs under the Trump administration. Nevertheless, analysts such as Wedbush’s Dan Ives stated that Musk’s purchase was a “huge sign of confidence for Tesla bulls and shows Musk is doubling down on his Tesla A.I. bet.”
Tesla and Elon Musk
Musk already owns about 13% of Tesla, and his latest purchase comes as the company prepares for a key shareholder vote in November. Investors will decide whether to approve a compensation package for Musk that could ultimately be worth as much as $975 billion if ambitious market value milestones are achieved. The package has a long-term target of pushing Tesla’s market capitalization to $8.5 trillion, compared with about $1.3 trillion at Friday’s close.
Wall Street’s current consensus price target still implies a roughly 20% decline from current levels, though some Tesla bulls remain optimistic that the company could shift its focus toward autonomy, AI, and robotics. Musk has also asked shareholders to approve an investment into his latest venture, xAI.
Investor's Corner
Tesla bear turns bullish for two reasons as stock continues boost
“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting,” Nathan said, citing numerous signs of strength, such as holding its 200-day moving average and holding against its resistance level.
A Tesla bear is changing his tune, turning bullish for two reasons as the company’s stock has continued to get a boost over the past month.
Dan Nathan, a notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, said he is changing his tune, at least in the short term, on the company’s stock because of “technicals and sentiment,” believing the company is on track for a strong Q3, but also an investment story that will slowly veer away from its automotive business.
“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting,” Nathan said, citing numerous signs of strength, such as holding its 200-day moving average and holding against its resistance level.
He also said he believes a rally for the stock could continue as it heads into the end of the quarter, especially as the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit is coming to an end at the end of the month.
With that being said, he believes the consensus for Q3 deliveries is “probably low,” as he believes Wall Street is likely underestimating what Tesla will bring to the table on October 1 or 2 when it reports numbers for the quarter.
Tesla bear Dan Nathan has flipped his script on Tesla $TSLA shares, citing “technicals and sentiment”
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 12, 2025
Tesla shares are already up over five percent today, with gains exceeding nine percent over the past five trading days, and more than fourteen percent in the past month.
While some analysts are looking at the performance of other Mag 7 stocks, movement on rates from the Federal Reserve, and other broader market factors as reasoning for Tesla’s strong performance, it appears some movement could be related to the company’s recent developments instead.
Over the past week, Tesla has made some strides in its Robotaxi program, including a new license to test the platform in the State of Nevada, which we reported on.
Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state
Additionally, the company is riding the tails of the end of the EV tax credit, as inventory, both new and used, is running extremely low, generally speaking. Many markets do not have any vehicles to purchase as of right now, making delivery by September 30 extremely difficult.
However, there has been some adjustments to the guidelines by the IRS, which can be read here:
Tesla is trading at around $389 at 10:56 a.m. on the East Coast.
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Tesla analyst says Musk stock buy should send this signal to investors
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