Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) stock is widely popular in India where Teslas are a rare breed
Tesla’s electric cars are a rarity in India, but the company’s stock certainly is not.
Small-time Indian investors are snapping up Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) like hotcakes, even though the company’s all-electric cars are among the rarest vehicles to spot in the country. Indians are placing huge bets on U.S.-based companies this year after tech entities have contributed to one of the quickest rebounds in the world in terms of economic conditions that were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple, Amazon, and Facebook are widely popular stocks worldwide because of each company’s massive international presence. However, Tesla is emerging as the new number one preference for Indian investors even though the country has a small-time population of Tesla owners. Import taxes nearly double the cost of a Tesla electric vehicle in India, making them among the rarest vehicles in the country while the company’s presence elsewhere continues to grow.
Vested Finance, an India-based brokerage, said its accounts held $2.5 million worth of TSLA shares in November. This is a significant increase in concentration compared to early 2020 figures, which stood at just $76,000 at the end of March. Stockal, another brokerage in India, has seen its TSLA holdings quadruple to $10 million during the same period, Reuters reported.
The investors who chose to funnel their hard-earned money into TSLA’s stock have been rewarded as the company’s shares have increased by 450% during the timeframe. At the end of March, TSLA was trading at $104.80. Currently trading at a shade under $600 a share, TSLA has been one of Wall Street’s biggest stocks during the year.
One of the biggest individual investors in TSLA stock is 33-year-old Gaurav Jhunjhunwala, who became an Elon Musk fan after reading his biography. He paid $1,000 to book a Model 3 reservation whenever Tesla enters India and has been buying 30 shares of TSLA stock every other week. Currently, he says he has invested $100,000 into the electric automaker.
“I just like the way the guy thinks,” Jhunjhunwala said about Musk. “He is trying to make the world a better place.”
While Tesla is not a company with a notable presence in India as of right now, the company has inquired about building a factory in the country in the past. The demand for vehicles in India is notable, and consumers would likely buy the company’s cars. Still, a long process of establishing a manufacturing plant in the country is not advantageous currently. As of now, Tesla is building international plants in Shanghai, China, and Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin. These locations are advantageous for Tesla at the current time because they will funnel vehicles to Asian and European countries where demand for electric vehicles is skyrocketing.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, did indicate that the electric automaker will “for sure” make its entry into the Indian market in 2021 in a Tweet in October. Local government officials in Karnataka, a state in India, have indicated that they plan to speak with Tesla officials to get concrete plans into place.
“We are firmly committed to policy building and changes for sustainable development, and I personally believe that electric mobility, supported by renewable energy is the way ahead. Let’s hope we can help this thought become mainstream soon,” wrote Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena leader and son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Disclaimer: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
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.
Investor's Corner
Mizuho keeps Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but lowers price target
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target to $475 from $485, citing potential 2026 EV subsidy cuts in the U.S. and China that could pressure deliveries. The firm maintained its Outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, however.
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected. The U.S. accounted for roughly 37% of Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 sales, while China represented about 34%, making both markets highly sensitive to policy shifts. Potential 50% cuts to Chinese subsidies and reduced U.S. incentives affected the firm’s outlook.
With those pressures factored in, the firm now expects Tesla to deliver 1.75 million vehicles in 2026 and 2 million in 2027, slightly below consensus estimates of 1.82 million and 2.15 million, respectively. The analyst was cautiously optimistic, as near-term pressure from subsidies is there, but the company’s long-term tech roadmap remains very compelling.
Despite the revised target, Mizuho remained optimistic on Tesla’s long-term technology roadmap. The firm highlighted three major growth drivers into 2027: the broader adoption of Full Self-Driving V14, the expansion of Tesla’s Robotaxi service, and the commercialization of Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot.
“We are lowering TSLA Ests/PT to $475 with Potential BEV headwinds in 2026E. We believe into 2026E, US (~37% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) EV subsidy cuts and China (34% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) potential 50% EV subsidy cuts could be a headwind to EV deliveries.
“We are now estimating TSLA deliveries for 2026/27E at 1.75M/2.00M (slightly below cons. 1.82M/2.15M). We see some LT drivers with FSD v14 adoption for autonomous, robotaxi launches, and humanoid robots into 2027 driving strength,” the analyst noted.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) has landed an elusive “must own” status from Wall Street firm Melius, according to a new note released early this week.
Analyst Rob Wertheimer said Tesla will lead the charge in world-changing tech, given the company’s focus on self-driving, autonomy, and Robotaxi. In a note to investors, Wertheimer said “the world is about to change, dramatically,” because of the advent of self-driving cars.
He looks at the industry and sees many potential players, but the firm says there will only be one true winner:
“Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”
The major argument is that autonomy is nearing a tipping point where years of chipping away at the software and data needed to develop a sound, safe, and effective form of autonomous driving technology turn into an avalanche of progress.
Wertheimer believes autonomy is a $7 trillion sector,” and in the coming years, investors will see “hundreds of billions in value shift to Tesla.”
A lot of the major growth has to do with the all-too-common “butts in seats” strategy, as Wertheimer believes that only a fraction of people in the United States have ridden in a self-driving car. In Tesla’s regard, only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) version, which is v14.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 – Full Review, the Good and the Bad
When it reaches a widespread rollout and more people are able to experience Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, he believes “it will shock most people.”
Citing things like Tesla’s massive data pool from its vehicles, as well as its shift to end-to-end neural nets in 2021 and 2022, as well as the upcoming AI5 chip, which will be put into a handful of vehicles next year, but will reach a wider rollout in 2027, Melius believes many investors are not aware of the pace of advancement in self-driving.
Tesla’s lead in its self-driving efforts is expanding, Wertheimer says. The company is making strategic choices on everything from hardware to software, manufacturing, and overall vehicle design. He says Tesla has left legacy automakers struggling to keep pace as they still rely on outdated architectures and fragmented supplier systems.
Tesla shares are up over 6 percent at 10:40 a.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $416.
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