Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) closes out 2020 with a new bull: Masterlink Securities
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) officially has its newest bullish firm in Taiwan-based Masterlink Securities.
The firm launched its first ratings and price targets for Tesla stock on New Year’s Eve, which were listed as “Buy” and a hefty $750 price target to match. It is among the highest current price targets for TSLA, with the most robust being the $788 price target from JMP Securities analyst Joseph Osha.
Tesla rides into the new year with plenty of momentum on Wall Street. After hitting its 52-week high on the final day of the year with a quick spike to $703.74, it is a good sign of things to come for the company’s shareholders, especially those who got in early.
NEWS: Masterlink Securities initiates coverage on $TSLA with a Buy rating and a price target of $750. ?
— Sawyer Merritt ?? (@SawyerMerritt) December 31, 2020
-->The stock has traded as low as $70.10 in 2020, which early-year numbers would indicate that the company has experienced tremendous growth so far, and it has. Tesla has launched an offensive in China with its Giga Shanghai production plant that produces the Model 3, the most popular EV in the country this year.
On top of that, CEO Elon Musk has led the electric automaker into the realm of impossibility in 2020, which was a year that was trying for many industries, automotive being one of them. However, Tesla has continued to defy all odds and launch itself into the stratosphere of automotive legend. It will likely reach the 500,000 vehicle goal that it set before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the world, which is quite incredible, considering automotive sales are down a projected 15.5% compared to 2019, dBusiness said.
Only ten major automakers have been able to sustain growth in Q3 2020 compared to Q3 2019: Acura, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Tesla, and Volvo. However, only of these companies could eclipse 17.3%: Alpha Romeo’s growth from 4,310 units in Q3 2019 to 5,056 units in Q3 2020, and Tesla. Tesla is the only company that managed to absolutely demolish the prior year’s Q3 sales numbers, seeing 154.7% growth compared to last year, GoodCarBadCar.com data shows.
Incredibly, Tesla’s Q4 2020 could be one for the ages. The company needed around 180,000 cars delivered to reach its goal, and early projections from some bullish analysts predict that Tesla could reach as high as 200,000 deliveries for the quarter alone. This would signify Tesla’s biggest quarter yet, and would likely send the stock soaring toward the $800 price mark.
Delivery numbers will be reported after the new year, and Tesla has done everything it can to close the year out strong. CEO Elon Musk announced on December 29 that every Tesla EV sold with completed paperwork during the last three days of the year would be subjected to a free, three-month trial of the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, which has become more robust and complex in 2020, leading the frontman to believe that his company will reach Level 5 autonomy by the end 0f 2021.
-->At the time of writing, TSLA shares were trading at $698.16.
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.
Tesla bear gets blunt with beliefs over company valuation
Tesla is making a change to its exterior cameras with a potential upgrade
