Tesla Stock Is Up Again. There’s a Key Momentum Level in Sight.

Tesla stock is going for four consecutive gains in a row on Monday. (Dreamstime)

Tesla stock rose Monday, adding to recent gains. Shares look to have recaptured some recently lost momentum that led into the company’s June launch of a robo-taxi service in Austin, Texas.

Another strong day or two brings a stock price of $368 back into focus for technically minded traders.

The electric-vehicle maker’s stock added 2.8%, closing at $339.03, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

One thing that might have helped shares on Monday was longer wait times for Tesla vehicles. The company recently increased its estimated wait times for its most popular electric vehicle, the Model Y, to four to six weeks from a recent range of one to three weeks.

It’s a signal of more order activity. Higher demand is good news, but this is the last quarter buyers can qualify for the federal purchase tax credit worth up to $7,500. That benefit was eliminated in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill passed on July 4. Some buyers might be rushing to beat credit expiration, which could be pulling forward some demand.

Whatever the reason, the close in the green made it four days in a row for the stock. Shares haven’t closed that high since late June, when they closed above $340, following the launch of a self-driving taxi service in Austin. It was a modest launch with a handful of Tesla Model Ys ferrying passengers around a limited section of Austin with a Tesla safety monitor in the front passenger seat. Still, the car did the driving, and Tesla has slowly expanded the area of Austin served by its self-driving cars.

Tesla investors have been very focused on autonomous-driving technology lately. It represents an artificial-intelligence computing application that many Tesla bulls believe will unlock a new era of earnings growth. Stocks, however, can often stall out after big events. That’s what seems to have happened to Tesla shares lately.

Technically, Tesla stock has faced some resistance around $330 recently. Resistance refers to a recent ceiling for a stock, where traders have tended to take some profits, and investors are less interested in adding to positions.

Getting above robo-taxi-related levels would be bullish for the stock, wrote Mark Newton, head of Technical Strategy at Fundstrat, in a recent report.

The signals show “sharp gains in the back half of this year,” said Newton, adding he sees a breakout possible in the days ahead. “Any daily close above $338 [the July 21 intraday highs] would satisfy the structural requirements [for breakout].”

With shares above $338**,** Newton sees $368 as the next stop. He isn’t making a fundamental call on Tesla stock. Technical analysts look at stock charts and market history to get a sense of where shares can go over the short and medium terms.

Coming into Monday trading, Tesla stock was down about 18% year to date, and up about 65% over the past 12 months.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com