Tesla has more room to run under new presidential administration, according to the Mizuho. Analyst Vijay Rakesh upgraded the electric vehicle maker to outperform, and after staying on the sidelines, he also lifted his price target by $285 to $515. That implies 11.2% upside from Monday’s close. “We see idiosyncratic tailwinds over the next ~4Y positioning it favorably,” Rakesh said in a note to clients. Tesla shares have been on a tear since Donald Trump’s election win largely due to CEO Elon Musk’s close advisory relationship with the incoming president. In that time, the stock is up 84%. The stock added more than 2.5% in premarket trading after the upgrade. TSLA YTD mountain Tesla stock this year. Rakesh thinks Tesla could still face near-term challenges from domestic EV tax credit repeals, but said the company is overall better-positioned relative to its peers given the prospect of favorable regulation and Musk’s alignment with the Trump administration. Rakesh expects easing regulatory framework around autonomous driving to be a positive catalyst for Tesla’s full self-driving and robotaxi valuations. Tesla’s autonomy segments account for more than half of Mizuho’s valuation of the stock. “We believe TSLA’s autonomy software stack is improving towards broad commercialization,” Rakesh said. He anticipates the company to have its Level 4 full self-driving technology approved by next year and in the European Union in 2027 with licensing revenue. Tesla’s current autonomous systems are still rated at Level 2, or at partial driving automation. Trump’s policies also position Tesla better with its lower EV cost structure relative to peers and leaves the company well-positioned to outgrow global LVP electric vehicles — or cars that use a lithium vanadium phosphate battery — with its more profitable EV plans, Rakesh said. Import tariffs from the EU, Latin America, Canada and the East Asia and Pacific regions could also improve Tesla’s competitive standing, he said. Just last week, Trump’s transition team recommended repealing a requirement that companies report automated vehicle crash data to federal safety regulators. Removing the crash-disclosure provision would uniquely benefit Tesla, which has reported the majority of the crashes under the program. Analysts are mixed on the stock. Of the 54 who cover the EV maker, 25 rate it as a buy or strong buy, according to LSEG. The remaining 29 have either a hold, underperform or sell rating, however.
