Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) co-founder and CEO Elon Musk was yet again hailed as the king in the race to be the world’s richest man, as per Forbes.
Tesla is preparing for its much-awaited second A.I. (artificial intelligence) day, scheduled for September 30. On his Twitter account, Musk has promised “lots of technical detail & cool hardware demos” for the event. Investors are expecting further updates on Tesla’s advanced driving software, Full Self Driving (FSD), which is projected to take over the future of robotaxis.
Similarly, Musk’s launch of a humanoid robot labeled Optimus last year, may also be a focus on the A.I. Day 2, analyst Daniel Ives of Wedbush noted. Moreover, progress on Dojo, a supercomputer built to improve the brains behind Tesla’s driving systems, may also be discussed, a Bloomberg report stated.
Musk’s Ongoing Battles
Known for his many shenanigans, Musk is currently in the limelight for his ongoing battle with social media site Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). However, both Musk and Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, decided to put up a no-show at the latest deposition, thus, undermining the gravity of the case.
On the other hand, Musk is trying to get freedom from a 2018 mandate that requires some of his tweets to be vetted by a lawyer before they are posted. In a brief filed on Thursday, Musk’s lawyers called the mandate a “government-imposed muzzle” and “contrary to the American principles of free speech and open debate.”
Tesla Q3 Delivery Numbers are Expected Soon
Analyst Alexander Potter of Piper Sandler cut the price target on TSLA stock to $340 (18.1% upside potential) from $360 while keeping a Buy rating. The analyst thinks that Tesla’s consensus delivery estimates for Q3 are “probably too high.”
Accordingly, the analyst cut his Q3 delivery estimates to 354,000 autos from 380,000 autos. At the same time, he maintained his full-year delivery estimate of 1.36 million autos. Potter also believes that Tesla’s Shanghai factory capacity remains intact and any changes in market share in China may be a result of its own lower build rates.
Is Tesla Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Analysts remain split on Tesla stock’s future trajectory. On TipRanks, TSLA stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating. This is based on 18 Buys, six Holds, and five Sells. The average Tesla price target of $311.21 implies a modest 8.1% upside potential to current levels. Meanwhile, the stock has lost 28% so far this year.
Ending Thoughts
Thanks to his witty demeanor, Musk has had a love-hate relationship with the masses, especially social media fanatics. Most of the time, Tesla stock ends up paying the brunt of Musk’s actions. Nonetheless, the EV maker is one of the largest in the U.S. and has a promising future. Tesla’s AI Day 2, Q3 delivery numbers, and Musk’s scheduled October 17 trial in the Twitter case will dominate the trajectory of TSLA stock in the short run.
