Tesla’s stock could jump another 20%, Wedbush said in a note Thursday.
Analyst Dan Ives compared it to Apple in the late 2000s when it started monetizing certain products.
It raised its price target to $350 despite Tesla’s lackluster second-quarter results.
Tesla could add $190 billion to its valuation, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
It raised its price target for the electric vehicle maker from $50 to $350, saying in a note that Elon Musk’s company has demonstrated it can monetize key products including its supercharging network and self-driving technology.
Shares are expected to rise 20% from their current level of $291 to $350 — and that would add $188 billion to Tesla’s current market capitalization, according to Insider calculations.
Ives was reacting to a second-quarter earnings report released by Tesla after Wednesday’s closing bell that sent its stock price tumbling 4% in pre-market trading Thursday.
The electric vehicle maker’s profit margins fell short of expectations as Musk continued its aggressive price cuts in a bid to increase market share – despite beating Wall Street profit and revenue targets.
Wednesday’s numbers only made Ives more optimistic about the electric vehicle maker.
The analyst hailed Musk’s price war as “a success at home in China, Europe and the United States,” amid signs traditional automakers are struggling to keep pace with Tesla’s cuts.
Ives also pointed to Tesla’s groundbreaking deal to share its supercharger network with Ford and GM as a money-making opportunity – and added that its profits should continue to rise once it is able to roll out its fully self-driving technology more widely.
He sees the best point of comparison for Tesla as Apple was in the late 2000s, when the iPhone maker’s share price did not yet reflect its profit potential.
“We see Tesla where Apple was in the 2008/2009 period when Cupertino was just beginning to monetize its services and golden ecosystem,” Ives wrote in Thursday’s research note. “We view this quarter as a major step in the right direction as Tesla plays chess while others play checkers.”
Tesla is one of the biggest winners in the AI-powered tech stock boom. The shares are up 136% this year, adding $530 billion to its market capitalization and leaving it just over $900 billion.
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