By Michael Elkins
Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as the company’s stock has nearly doubled since January 3rd, taking the stock to just under their $220 price target. Over the 27 trading days YTD, Tesla has traded an accumulated value (VWAP) of $804 billion. By comparison, in the trailing 27 days leading up to the end of calendar 2022, Tesla shares traded an accumulated dollar value of $525B.
As of the close of market on Thursday, Tesla shares were up 68% vs. US EV pure play peers LCID up 51%, with RIVN and FSR up 5% and 1%, respectively. However, Tesla’s website showed an increase in price for its Model Y vehicles in China.
According to the price information listed on the company's Chinese website on Friday, the automaker increased the starting price of its Model Y crossovers by 0.8% to 261,900 yuan ($38,577.11).
CEO Elon Musk’s master Plan 3 is to be unveiled on the company’s March 1st Investor Day. Morgan Stanley analysts are excited to see progress on the manufacturing side including giga-press, 4680 battery pack, structural pack, and other innovations.
They wrote in a note, “While we reiterate the Overweight rating on Tesla shares, we believe the window of opportunity on ‘valuation’ has closed. Further upside from here will require a more substantial narrative change following the March 1st Investor Day.”
Shares of TSLA are down 2.09% in premarket trading on Friday.