Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Up 3.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shot up 3.3% on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $307.00 to $352.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $439.88 and last traded at $430.41. 82,226,694 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 63,717,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.56.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $509.00 to $519.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Tesla from $307.00 to $313.00 in a report on Monday, December 1st. CICC Research lifted their target price on Tesla from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.58.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total transaction of $1,170,643.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,757 shares in the company, valued at $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 56,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.66, for a total value of $25,606,501.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,391,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,145,215.90. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 119,457 shares of company stock worth $53,501,145 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

More Tesla News

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SpaceX merger talk fuels optimism that Elon Musk could further consolidate his tech assets, a scenario investors view as value-accretive for Tesla (merger talk helped push TSLA higher). Tesla jumps as SpaceX merger talks fuel Musk empire consolidation hopes (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beats and clear robotaxi/FSD progress: Tesla topped EPS and revenue estimates, disclosed 1.1M active FSD subs and reiterated Cybercab/robotaxi production targets — evidence that software and services can offset weaker vehicle volume. Could Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Fuel the Next Rally? (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Investment in xAI and AI positioning: Tesla disclosed a multi‑billion involvement with Musk’s xAI and is pushing chip/TeraFab plans — reinforcing the market view of Tesla as a “physical AI” play rather than a pure auto OEM. Tesla reveals $2 billion investment in Elon Musk’s xAI (Fortune)
• Neutral Sentiment: Model S/X discontinuation and factory retooling — strategic for long‑term robotics capacity but implies short-term restructuring and transition risk; impact depends on execution and timing. Tesla Kills Legacy Models: Analyst Response Is Meh (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions and target churn — some firms raised targets on the AI/robotics story while others trimmed them, leaving consensus sentiment split and volatility likely to persist.
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex and cash‑burn risk: management guided to >$20B capex to reshuffle factories for robots, Cybercab and batteries — a heavy near‑term cash demand that could pressure margins and free cash flow. Tesla plans $20 billion capital spending spree (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: First annual revenue decline and softer vehicle deliveries raise near‑term execution concerns — investors worry Optimus/robotaxi revenue is far out and that margins could be pressured during the transition.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable bearish analyst moves (e.g., JPMorgan cut to underweight with a $145 target) increase downside headline risk and may cap rallies until clarity on capex pacing and robot/robotaxi ramps arrives.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,925,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $116,443,762,000 after buying an additional 6,538,720 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Tesla by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 113,762,849 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $50,592,614,000 after purchasing an additional 344,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,767,993 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $20,480,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,304 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,035,949 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $19,583,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,839,824,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Up 3.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $447.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $407.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 398.53, a PEG ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $24.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.75 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 4.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean‑energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery‑electric vehicles and related services.