Tesla\u2019s stock reached its highest close in over a year on Friday, marking a significant comeback as investors and analysts praised the electric vehicle company\u2019s third-quarter results. After a record-breaking 22% jump on Thursday, Tesla shares climbed an additional 3.4% on Friday, closing at $269.23 \u2013 their highest finish since September 2023. With this rally, Tesla\u2019s stock has erased its previous loss for the year and is now up 8.4% for 2024, still behind the Nasdaq\u2019s 23% increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts at Piper Sandler joined other firms in increasing their price targets for Tesla after its Q3 earnings report. Piper Sandler, which maintained its \u201cbuy\u201d rating on the stock, raised its 12-month target from $310 to $315, citing \u201chigher deliveries and higher margins.\u201d The move reflects optimism about Tesla\u2019s ability to scale production and improve profit margins despite missing revenue expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tesla\u2019s Q3 revenue came in at $25.18 billion, slightly below the expected $25.37 billion but up 8% from the previous year. Tesla outperformed on adjusted earnings per share, delivering 72 cents versus the average analyst estimate of 58 cents, highlighting its profitability improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tesla\u2019s profitability in the quarter was significantly bolstered by $739 million in revenue from environmental regulatory credits, which JPMorgan Chase analysts described as a \u201cpotentially unsustainable driver\u201d of earnings. Another $326 million came from Tesla\u2019s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised system, showcasing its value to the bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed optimism on the earnings call, projecting vehicle growth of 20% to 30% next year, driven by lower-cost vehicles and the \u201cadvent of autonomy.\u201d Analysts surveyed by FactSet, however, forecast a more conservative delivery growth rate of around 15% for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk reaffirmed his commitment to autonomy, stating that Tesla plans to start production of its \u201cCybercab,\u201d a futuristic robotaxi with butterfly doors and no steering wheel, by the end of 2026. Tesla also plans to test driverless ride-hailing in California and Texas next year, albeit with existing vehicles that require a driver to be ready to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, analysts have cautioned investors about Musk\u2019s timeline for autonomy. Bernstein analysts noted Musk\u2019s \u201clong history of being overly optimistic about FSD,\u201d emphasizing that research shows Tesla still \u201clags well behind competitors\u201d in the race for self-driving technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to Tesla\u2019s two-day stock surge, Musk\u2019s net worth has ballooned by roughly $30 billion, bringing his total estimated wealth to $274 billion. This places him more than $60 billion ahead of Larry Ellison, Oracle\u2019s founder and the world\u2019s second-richest person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Tesla\u2019s stock remains 34% below its all-time high, and competition is only intensifying. In China, Tesla is up against strong domestic players such as BYD, Geely, Li Auto, and Nio, while in the U.S., traditional automakers Ford and General Motors are making progress in EV sales despite recently scaling back some electrification efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tesla\u2019s sharp rise has certainly energized investors, yet the EV market remains a competitive field. As Tesla continues to expand its product line and work toward autonomous driving, the next few years will be pivotal for the company in maintaining its edge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tesla\u2019s stock reached its highest close in over a year on Friday, marking a significant comeback as investors and analysts praised the electric vehicle company\u2019s third-quarter results. After a record-breaking 22% jump on Thursday, Tesla shares climbed an additional 3.4% on Friday, closing at $269.23 \u2013 their highest finish since September 2023. With this rally, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":1598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[420,422,336,417,416,419,418,414,415,421],"class_list":{"0":"post-1597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-autonomy","9":"tag-electric-vehicles","10":"tag-elon-musk","11":"tag-ev-competition","12":"tag-full-self-driving","13":"tag-piper-sandler","14":"tag-price-target","15":"tag-q3-results","16":"tag-regulatory-credits","17":"tag-tesla-stock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1599,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions\/1599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}