Wedbush Securities added Tesla (TSLA, Financials) to its Best Ideas List, signaling confidence in the electric vehicle maker's long-term prospects despite recent stock declines. The firm sees Tesla at a pivotal moment, with bears currently controlling the narrative.
Driven by developments in autonomy and robots, analyst Dan Ives forecasts Tesla is starting its most important innovative cycle. Before summer, Wedbush anticipates Tesla to unveil a less expensive model costing less than $35,000, which would increase worldwide EV acceptance and restarting of development. A significant move in the autonomous car industry, the company also expects Tesla to provide its unsupervised Full Self-Driving software in Austin by June.
Wedbush expects other manufacturers to license Tesla's FSD technology, therefore generating a network effect and values Tesla's autonomous business at $1 trillion. Within a year, Tesla's automated taxi service Cybercab will open. Autonomy and the Optimus humanoid robot, according to the company, will fuel 90% of Tesla's long-term value. Should success follow, Tesla's market value may reach $2 trillion.
Though there are questions about CEO Elon Musk's political connections, Wedbush believes that fewer than 5% of Tesla's worldwide sales are at jeopardy because of these issues. The company also points out that a possible Trump government may relax rules, therefore supporting Tesla's development of autonomy.
While Wedbush has a 12-month price objective of $550, Tesla stock was trading at $239.89 as of 10:38 a.m. GMT-4 on Monday, down 36.75% year-to-date.
