Tesla Increases EV Prices for Second Time in China, U.S.

Having succumbed to the pressure of rising costs, Tesla (TSLA) has increased the prices of its electric cars in the U.S. and China for the second time within a week, according to a Reuters report. Shares of the vehicle manufacturer dropped 3.6% on Monday.

The market had been anticipating the move following CEO Elon Musk’s tweet on Monday that “Tesla & SpaceX are seeing significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials & logistics.”

The latest price hike, varying from $2,000 to $5,000, applies to its entire EV fleet in the U.S., while the prices of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles have been raised by 18,000 yuan each in China.

The carmaker was forced to raise prices as the Russian invasion caused a surge in the prices of raw materials. Aluminum, which is used in making a car’s body parts, touched record highs. Also, Palladium, used to reduce emissions from engines, increased about 80%. Further, the prices of Nickel, used in making batteries for EVs, has been skyrocketing.

Stock Rating

Last week, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter maintained a Buy rating on Tesla with a price target of $1,350 (76.2% upside potential from current levels).

The rest of the Street is cautiously optimistic about the stock and has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 15 Buys, 7 Holds and 6 Sells. The Tesla stock price prediction of $1,068.40 implies 39.4% upside potential to current levels.

Website Traffic

TipRanks’ Website Traffic tool, which uses data from SEMrush Holdings (SEMR), the world’s biggest website usage monitoring service, offers insight into TSLA’s performance.

According to the tool, in February, the Tesla website recorded a 38.8% monthly decrease in global visits, compared to the previous year. Likewise, the website traffic has declined 37.6% year-to-date, against the same period last year.

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