Tesla Inc.’s
TSLA,
decision announced by Chief Executive Elon Musk at its annual shareholder meeting late Tuesday to start advertising may be interpreted as a bad signal, but it comes after months of its shareholders pushing for the company to “clarify many of its selling points which the public may be unaware of,” wrote Baird analyst Ben Kallo in a note to clients. Kallo said the naming of JB Straubel, former CTO, to the board against protests from some shareholders, is “a strategic addition that will further enhance TSLA’s technology leadership and speculate that it may be indicative of a future partnership in materials recycling.” Straubel left to create startup Redwood Materials, a leader in materials recycling technology, said Kallo. Other items he highlighted included that demand for stationary storage is “infinite.” Kallo is expecting the energy storage business to grow at rates above 100% for the foreseeable future and become a bigger part of the company despite some aggressive vehicle delivery targets. Kallo has an outperform rating on the stock, the equivalent of buy. Tesla stock was up 1.8% premarket and has gained 35% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 7%.
