Tesla Price Target Hiked to $490 as Stock Ends an Epic Month

Coming into the last day of the third quarter, Tesla stock was up 37% over the past three months (Photo by ALEX MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

• Tesla stock gained 0.3% to close at $444.72 on Tuesday, following a 33% increase in September.
• Canaccord analyst George Gianarikas raised his Tesla price target to $490 from $333, maintaining a Buy rating.
• The average analyst price target for Tesla stock is approximately $347. CappThesis says it might hit $520.

Tesla stock eked out a gain on Tuesday following another large price-target increase from Wall Street. Analysts are playing catch-up with shares of the electric-vehicle maker.

Whatever happens on Tuesday, September has been an epic month for the stock. It has investors thinking about record highs.

Tesla stock added 0.3%, closing at $444.72, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%.

The move came after Canaccord analyst George Gianarikas increased his Tesla price target to $490 a share from $333 on Monday evening. He kept his Buy rating on shares, though he considered a downgrade.

“We wrote a note in early January where we underwent the same [downgrade] debate and inked our struggles on paper…We kept our Buy rating. And despite the volatile ride since, we’re glad we did,” wrote the analyst.

When deciding on his rating this time, Gianarikas cited strong third-quarter deliveries, new EV models, momentum in Tesla’s energy-storage business, and artificial-intelligence opportunities—robo-taxis and robots—as reasons that Tesla stock can continue to work.

Now, the average target price for Tesla stock is about $347, according to FactSet, up about $33 for the month. That’s still below where shares trade, but that’s not all that unusual for the stock. Historically, it’s spent a lot of time above the average analyst price target.

Shares were essentially at the average analyst price target to start the month. Then Tesla stock took off. Shares rose 33% in September. That’s the best month since November 2024, when shares soared following the election of President Donald Trump. Tesla CEO Elon Musk campaigned for the president, and investors believed the close relationship between the two men would benefit the EV maker.

The Trump-Musk relationship cooled, and the president’s tax and spending bill eliminated the $7,500 federal purchase tax credit for qualifying EVs. Investors, however, got past all that and are now firmly focused on AI. Tesla uses AI to train cars to drive themselves and train humanoid robots to complete useful tasks.

September had the potential to be one of the 10 best months ever for shares. It fell just short. It would have taken a close of $461.24, up 4.1%. The stock’s best month ever was May 2013, when shares rose 81%.

As for what’s next, investors are hoping for a new all-time high. Tesla stock traded for about $489 a share in December. “Momentum tends to be very strong in the stock once a major resistance zone is finally overtaken,” says CappThesis founder and market technician Frank Cappelleri.

Resistance is a technical term referring to a level where a stock has had trouble getting past. “I do think there’s a chance Tesla can make a new high,” adds Cappelleri. He’s looking at $520.

He isn’t making a fundamental call on Tesla stock. Market technicians look at stock charts and market history to understand investor sentiment.

It isn’t a stretch to say sentiment for Tesla is incredibly strong right now. Coming into Tuesday trading, Tesla stock was up about 10% year to date and 70% over the past 12 months.

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