Investor's Corner
Tesla’s strong Q3 financials catalyze price target increases from analysts
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) posted an incredibly strong third quarter last evening during its Earnings Call, making remarkable strides on its financials to extend its profitable quarters streak to nine. Analysts at numerous Wall Street firms are upgrading their price targets on Tesla stock following the company’s strong numbers and positive outlook moving forward as it intends to ramp its Texas and Berlin Gigafactories in the coming months.
Wedbush – Dan Ives
Starting with some of Tesla’s most notable bulls, Wedbush’s Daniel Ives boosted his price target to $1,100 from $1,000 while maintaining an Outperform rating. “Last night, Tesla delivered solid top-line results which were in-line with expectations and speaks to a new Tesla margin story going forward,” Ives wrote to investors. “Auto GM was 30%+ and roughly 250 bps ahead of Street expectations which highlights the massive leverage in the Tesla story now starting to take hold with Giga China front and center as Tesla is on an EBITDA run-rate of roughly $13 billion, a staggering number given the company is still in the early stages of building out its global EV moat.”
Tesla’s demand increases, which have resulted in delivery estimates extending well into 2022 are going to be handled by Giga Berlin and Giga Texas. “We believe EV demand is outstripping supply for Tesla by roughly 30k units and the chip shortage has clearly amplified this dynamic with wait times for Model Y and some Model 3’s extending into the spring for current orders,” Ives said. “However, big supply help is on the way for Musk & Co. as the long the awaited Gigafactory hubs in Austin and Berlin are set to have are set to have the ribbon cut over the coming months and should expand Tesla’s capacity to roughly 2 million units annually over the next 18 months.
Ives has a $1,500 price target for Tesla’s bull case, up from the $1,300 target he previously held. TipRanks has Ives ranked 18 out of 7,705 analysts, with an average return of 37.5% and a success rate of 79%.
Canaccord Genuity – Jed Dorsheimer
Dorsheimer raised his price target from $940 to $1,040 while maintaining a Buy rating. “Post Tesla’s 3Q21, we are maintaining our BUY rating and increasing out PT to $1,040, which is based on 45x our ’24 Adj. EBITDA estimate of $25.9B (previously $940 based on 55x of $19B). We are bullish on the auto gross margin expansion, and remain excited for battery constraints to abate and be reallocated to energy products later in 2022,” Dorsheimer wrote. “After reporting record delivery numbers a few weeks ago, a beat may have been priced in and shares could see a ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ type pull back. We would be buyers at these levels and if any pullback occurs.”
TipRanks has Dorsheimer ranked 210 out of 7,705 analysts, with an average return of 32.9% and a success rate of 56%.
Deutsche Bank – Emmanuel Rosner
Rosner raised his price target on Tesla from $900 to $1,000, maintaining his Buy rating. The impressive measure of automotive gross margins was indicative of a strong operational performance, despite industry challenges like semiconductor and parts shortages.
“Tesla reported particularly strong 3Q21 operating performance, delivering its highest auto gross margins since Model 3 was introduced, despite minimal S+X volume and higher supply chain costs, and impressive GAAP operating margin of 14.6% (18.4% ex-SBC), surpassing even its long-term company targets,” Rosner wrote. Tesla also stated that, despite its low volume, the Model S has returned to profitability.
“While revenue came in somewhat below expectations, this was driven mainly by lower regulatory credit and services/other contributions, while auto revenue was more in-line. We leave our 2021E deliveries unchanged at 845k, but take up our auto GM (ex credit) to nearly 27% from <26%, and EPS to $6.45 (from $6.20 previously).”
Rosner holds a ranking of 1,339 out of 7,705 analysts with a 57% success rate and an average return of 14.3%, according to TipRanks.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
Investor's Corner
Tesla just did something in South Korea that no foreign carmaker has ever done
Tesla’s Model Y just became South Korea’s best-selling car, beating every domestic model in May.
Tesla did something last month that no foreign car has ever done in South Korea by outselling every vehicle in the country, domestic or imported, finishing the month with Model Y as the single best-selling car across the entire Korean market. According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association released on June 4, the Model Y recorded 8,762 units sold in May, pushing the Kia Sorento into second place at 7,836 units and the Hyundai Grandeur into third at 5,183 units. It is the first time an imported vehicle has outsold every domestic model on a single-month basis.
Tesla imported 10,866 cars into South Korea in May, making it the top import brand for the fourth consecutive month. BMW followed at 6,555 units, less than two-thirds of Tesla’s total, while BYD registered just 1,032 units. The combined domestic sales of GM Korea, Renault Korea, and KG Mobility last month totaled just 7,019 units, meaning a single Tesla model outsold three Korean automakers combined.
Tesla FSD earns high praise in South Korea’s real-world autonomous driving test
South Korea has historically been one of the hardest markets for foreign automakers to crack. Hyundai and Kia together control close to 70% of the overall market and carry deep consumer loyalty built over decades. Tesla’s path into this market was an uphill battle due to high import duties, limited service infrastructure, and early skepticism about charging networks. In 2024, the Model Y was the best-selling imported car in South Korea with 18,717 units for the full year. By 2025, after the Juniper refresh, it cleared 50,000 units and took the top spot among all EVs.
Year to date, Tesla has a 250.8% increase in the country over the same period last year, and now holds a 30.8% share of the entire imported car segment for 2026. EVs as a category represented 48.6% of all imported passenger car registrations in May. As Teslarati has reported, the Juniper refresh brought meaningful improvements to range, interior quality, and ride refinement that addressed the most common criticisms of earlier Model Y versions. Those upgrades appear to be resonating in markets like South Korea where buyers compare Tesla directly against high end domestic competitors.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) stands to reap one of the most extraordinary returns in pension fund history thanks to a bold 2019 investment in SpaceX.
According to a recent report from The Globe and Mail, the Toronto-based fund invested roughly $300 million CAD (~$220 million USD at the time) in Elon Musk’s space company as its inaugural deal through the Teachers’ Innovation Platform.
At SpaceX’s anticipated $1.75 trillion IPO valuation, set for a mid-June debut on Nasdaq under ticker $SPCX, that stake could now be worth up to $11.6 billion USD. This would represent a roughly 50x return and easily become OTPP’s most successful single investment ever.
The fund manages $279 billion in assets for approximately 346,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, potentially delivering an average boost of around $33,500 per member if fully realized.
SpaceX has filed its S-1 and plans to price shares at $135 each, aiming to raise a record $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco. The company reported $18.67 billion in revenue for 2025, driven primarily by Starlink satellite internet growth and NASA contracts, though it continues to post significant losses tied to ambitious R&D in Starship and AI initiatives.
Important pieces moving forward include:
- Starlink Expansion: The satellite broadband service is scaling rapidly, targeting global connectivity, especially in underserved rural and remote areas. This segment offers massive recurring revenue potential as numbers climb.
- Starship and Reusability Leadership: SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship aims to slash launch costs dramatically, enabling frequent missions, Mars ambitions, and lucrative government/defense contracts. Success here could unlock exponential growth.
- AI and Diversification: Recent moves, including ties to xAI, position SpaceX in high-growth AI infrastructure, broadening beyond traditional aerospace.
- Validation Scrutiny: While the $1.75 trillion target excites investors, analysts like Morningstar value the company closer to $780 billion, citing high multiples (around 90x trailing revenue) and execution risks. A 180-day lockup period will prevent early investors like OTPP from selling immediately post-IPO.
The irony has not been lost on observers. Ontario’s government previously canceled a Starlink rural internet contract amid political tensions involving Musk, yet the pension fund’s savvy investment, made when SpaceX was valued around $33-36 billion, and Starlink was nascent, delivers outsized gains independent of politics.
For OTPP, this windfall strengthens its already solid 111 percent funding ratio and underscores the value of patient, innovation-focused capital allocation.
For SpaceX, the IPO marks a new chapter: greater transparency, access to public markets for talent retention and growth capital, and heightened pressure to deliver on its multi-planetary vision.
All eyes are fixed on whether SpaceX can justify its lofty valuation through sustained execution. For Ontario teachers, the returns are already stellar, but SpaceX, like other Musk companies in the past, has plenty of things to prove. Perhaps the most ideal person for the job is at the helm, hoping to bring the company to a massive valuation.
Tesla has its answer to grow its automotive sales over the next few years, TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli says, but it just has to bring it to the U.S.
On Thursday, Michaeli reiterated his $490 price target and the ‘Buy’ rating he already held on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA). However, its automotive division has struggled to show sequential growth over the past few years, mostly due to its focus on AI and Full Self-Driving. Tesla already axed two of its lower-volume vehicles with the Model S and Model X earlier this year.
However, Tesla does not need to engineer an entire new vehicle to trigger an upward tick in sales; it just has to bring it from China to the U.S., Michaeli said.
He is talking about the Model Y L, a slightly larger version of the all-electric crossover that is already available in China. U.S. customers have been pleading with CEO Elon Musk to bring it to the country since its launch in Asia last year, but he’s not convinced of it because of the advent of self-driving and its importance in this particular market.
The problem is that Tesla owners have been requesting something larger that could fit a typical American family. The Model Y L is slightly larger than the standard Model Y, but some are concerned that it could still be too small to fit what most people might need.
Instead, they have asked for a full-size SUV from Tesla.
Tesla gives big hint that it will build Cyber SUV, smaller Cybertruck
Nevertheless, the Model Y L still presents a great opportunity for Tesla in the U.S., and Michaeli says that there is an additional sales opportunity of about 100,000 units, with demand potential falling somewhere between 60,000 and 135,000 units.
TD Cowen’s note to investors also analyzed that Tesla’s growth could come from a stock perspective as well, positively impacting the stock price, as it has been widely reliant on vehicle sales, even though Tesla has truly phased itself away from that being an important metric.
Tesla stands to gain greatly from the introduction of the Model Y L in the U.S., but only if Elon Musk sees it as a viable fit for the market. Families may need to see Tesla bring something larger to the U.S., or they might be forced to buy from another automaker that offers something that fits is needs for more interior space to haul around the kids.
Tesla tipped its hand at where Robotaxi is heading next
Tesla just did something in South Korea that no foreign carmaker has ever done
