- Tesla’s Q4 earnings and guidance lay the muse for the stock to leap back to $200, Wedbush said Thursday.
- Wedbush also raised its price goal to $200, implying 38% upside for Tesla’s stock from Wednesday’s close.
- Tesla’s demand story is “roaring out of the gates” in 2023, analyst Dan Ives said.
Tesla’s shares could recapture the $200 level that is been elusive for 2 months, in line with Wedbush, which raised its price goal after the electrical vehicle maker beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations.
Analyst Dan Ives in a Thursday note lifted his Tesla price goal to $200 from $175. That suggests the shares hold the potential to rise 38% from Wednesday’s close at $144.43. Shares have not traded above $200 since early November.
Tesla late Wednesday posted per-share earnings of $1.19, ahead of a Refinitiv consensus forecast of $1.05. CEO Elon Musk said in a call with analysts that its recent price cuts made a “difference” through the quarter.
“[With] Twitter noise beginning to dissipate and the demand story roaring out of the gates in 2023 despite a darker macro, we walk away from this call incrementally more bullish on Tesla into 2023,” said Ives.
He also said Musk gave a “hittable/ beatable” delivery goal for 2023 that would find yourself being conservative, given a requirement rebound in China following recent price cuts on its Model Y and Model 3 vehicles.
Tesla foresees delivering 1.8 million cars in 2023, up 37% from 1.31 million vehicles in 2022.
“While within the near-term Tesla is sacrificing margins for higher volumes, we view this as the appropriate strategic poker move to place an iron fence around its customer base and fend off growing EV competition coming from Detroit, Europe, and China,” said Ives.
Tesla stock charged up 7.7% to $152.63 during Thursday afternoon trade but pared a bigger move. The stock slid by 64% in 2022, landing among the many 10 worst-performing on the S&P 500.
Quite a lot of investors and analysts, including Ives, have said Tesla’s stock had come under pressure with Musk’s controversial purchase of Twitter in October.