Shares of EV maker Tesla (TSLA) surged to a three-year high of $404.80 on Monday before pulling back due to optimism around its Optimus robot program. Bank of America’s John Murphy highlighted that Tesla aims to deploy 1,000 Optimus robots by the end of 2025, mostly within its factories, which will accelerate training and potentially speed up their development and capabilities.
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Murphy also added that Optimus currently uses only a small fraction of Tesla’s computing power, but its resources are expected to expand as robotaxi technology progresses. This could ramp up Optimus production starting in 2026 and help reduce costs. Furthermore, he suggested that Tesla might consider raising capital to fund additional computing capacity, which would boost the robot program further.
It’s worth noting that Murphy is a 4.5-star analyst who, so far, has enjoyed a 56% success rate on TSLA stock. In addition, he is one of the most bullish analysts on Tesla, with a Buy rating and a $400 price target. For reference, the highest price target is $411 per share, while the lowest is $24.86 per share.
Not All Analysts Are So Optimistic
In contrast to Murphy’s optimism, Goldman Sachs’ five-star analyst, Mark Delaney, recently put out a note indicating that he was skeptical about Tesla’s 2024 growth. Indeed, he is expecting flat growth in electric vehicle deliveries compared to 2023. While Tesla management expects year-over-year delivery growth and has forecasted at least 515,000 cars for Q4, Delaney estimates a slightly lower figure of 510,000 based on regional sales data. As a result, he has a Hold rating on the stock with a $250 price target.
Is Tesla Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Overall, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 11 Buys, 13 Holds, and nine Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 60% rally in its share price over the past year, the average Tesla price target of $244.88 per share implies 36% downside risk.
