Tesla Stock Rises on Another Price Target Hike. Record Highs Are in Sight.

Tesla operates one of the largest charging networks in the world. At the end of the second quarter, Tesla operated 7,377 charging stations with 70,228 connectors. (Getty Images)

Key Points

About This Summary

• Tesla shares rose after Piper Sandler increased its price target to $500 from $400, citing Tesla’s AI leadership.
• Baird also upgraded Tesla shares to Buy, setting a $548 target. Overall, 47% of analysts rate the stock a Buy.
• Tesla stock has received a boost from the company’s self-driving plans and interest rate cuts.

Tesla stock rose Monday as another analyst boosted his price target. Bullish investors are eyeing a record high.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker added 1.9%, closing at $434.21, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.45 and 0.1%, respectively.

The move came after Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter raised his price target on the stock to $500 from $400 following a trip to China. Potter noted increasing EV competition, but with respect to “real world” artificial intelligence, Tesla is the leader, he said. “Bottom line: Tesla remains our top idea for investing in autonomous vehicles and robotics.”

Tesla launched a self-driving taxi service in Austin, Texas, in June and hopes to start selling significant quantities of AI-trained humanoid robots in 2026.

Potter maintained his Buy rating on Tesla stock. His new target values Tesla stock at about 200 times consensus 2026 earnings estimates. “We think Tesla’s [valuation] multiple is so high because the company is using A.I. to disrupt markets that are almost unimaginably large,” added Potter in his Sunday report.

His hike came days after Baird analyst Ben Kallo upgraded shares to Buy from Hold and raised his target to $548 from $320 a share. Overall, 47% of analysts covering the company rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target is about $336, up from about $300 a few months ago.

Coming into Monday, Tesla stock gained about 6% this year and about 79% over the past 12 months. Shares were buoyed by a 23% rally over the past nine trading sessions, rising eight times and falling once over that span.

A few things have helped propel shares higher, including CEO Elon Musk’s recent $1 billion stock purchase. Tesla also appears to be on the cusp of expanding its self-driving taxi service to Nevada and Arizona. The Federal Reserve cut short-term rates by 0.25 percentage points last week, as expected. Car purchases are sensitive to interest rates, with many buyers financing their vehicles.

Where Tesla stock heads next is anyone’s guess. Shares have risen so far so fast that they look overbought, which is a trading term that can mean shares are due for a pause. “The next and final resistance is at the high, about $489,” says Fairlead Strategies founder and market technician Katie Stockton.

She isn’t making a fundamental call on Tesla stock. Technical analysts look at stock charts and market history to understand investor sentiment.

Technical analysis can be a useful tool with a stock as volatile as Tesla. Shares have ranged from about $212 to $489 this year. The $277 spread is about 80% of the average price. That ratio for Apple shares is closer to 40%.

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