Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) benefitted from a hefty jump in share prices after analysts upgraded the company's price target, citing the company's performance and more optimistic future.
Tesla stock ended the day 9.8% higher on Monday thanks to the optimistic price target amendments made by Wall Street analysts. In general, Tesla stock has been a strong NASDAQ performer as of late. Tesla's stock has almost doubled since October; Oct. 24 marked a change in fortune, with Tesla stock ending over 19% up from the previous day's 254.68, ending the day at 299.68. At closing yesterday, Tesla was at 537.92, a far cry from October's prices.
The catalyst for the jump? The revision of Tesla's target price by two Wall Street analysts from Oppenheimer and Jeffires: Colin Rusch and Philippe Houchois, respectively. Rusch revised his price target for Tesla from 385 to 612, citing the reason as Tesla's "risk tolerance, ability to implement learnings from past errors, and larger ambition than peers are beginning to pose an existential threat to transportation companies that are unable or unwilling to innovate at a faster pace." Houchois adjusted his price to 600 from 400, stating that his revised target "starts to reflect Tesla's ability to pursue additional growth, notably in storage/generation and selling batteries to third-party OEMs."
Tesla's surge, as stated by Rusch and Houchois, is largely reflective of its growth of a company. Tesla's expanding operations and continual innovations coincide with the outstanding performance of its product lines, such as the surging sales of the Model 3. The biggest boons as of late have been Tesla's expansion to China, with the company opening a new factory in Shanghai in just under a year. Additionally, the company is on the way to becoming self-funding. Tesla addressed this, stating, "[We expect positive] quarterly free cash flow going forward, with possible temporary exceptions, particularly around the launch and ramp of new products. We continue to believe our business has grown to the point of being self-funding."