On the morning of Monday, December 23, 2019, Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) broke through the all-elusive, now-mythical $420 barrier, trading ever so briefly, at $420.40 per share. And with that, TSLA has delivered what could very well be its most painful blow to its short-sellers to date.
Tesla stock continued to show its strength on Monday’s intraday, rising 3% from its already-stellar $405.59 closing price last Friday. The company appears to be riding a strong wave of momentum, propelled in part by a new $1.4 billion low-interest loan from Chinese banks for Gigafactory 3’s further construction and progress in the initial filings for Gigafactory 4 in Europe. Tesla stock opened strong, trading immediately at $411.78 per share, and it has largely stabilized at the $418-419 level.
Yet, right before 11 a.m. on Monday’s intraday, TSLA stock did it. Shares traded at $420.40, effectively giving TSLA bulls a huge psychological win for the company’s most ardent bulls. Among the biggest points of criticism from Tesla bears and short-sellers over the past year was Elon Musk’s quoted $420 per share price during his brief attempt at taking Tesla private last year. The company’s most vapid critics, particularly those who are intensely active on Twitter, use the price frequently when accusing Musk of fraud.
By actually hitting and exceeding $420 per share, Tesla has proven that it does not need to be “pumped” by Elon Musk to hit a higher valuation. This is a necessary win for TSLA bulls, as it shows that the electric car maker can reach new heights with its own merits.
This is actually a form of justice in a way, considering that Tesla reached these highs at a time when Elon Musk is not tweeting much about TSLA stock at all. Tesla has also been fairly quiet with its updates too, approaching the end of 2019 in an almost uncharacteristically undramatic fashion as it attempts to reach new delivery and production records with the Model 3. Ultimately, it appears that all Tesla really needed to do to hit $420 per share is to improve its fundamentals.
What is interesting is that this is most likely not Tesla’s ceiling. The company still has massive room to grow, particularly as it brings its highest-volume vehicle to market, the Model Y. The Model Y will be competing in the crossover segment, and if recent reports about the company are any indication, there’s a good chance that the vehicle’s ramp will be a lot less dramatic than the Model 3’s. And this, if any, will establish Tesla even more as a company that has solid footing, and one that produces vehicles with healthy demand from consumers.
As of writing, TSLA stock is trading 3.51% at $419.65 per share.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
