Tesla stock hovered near record levels on Wednesday, bolstered by renewed artificial intelligence optimism and a fresh round of bullish commentary from Wall Street.
Shares of the electric-vehicle maker traded as high as $464.16 before easing to $460 in early trading, even as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
Tesla stock is now about 4% below its all-time closing high of $479.86 reached on December 17, 2024, and roughly 6% below its intraday peak of $488.54 hit a day later.
Analysts lift price targets for Tesla stock
Wall Street sentiment toward Tesla remains mixed.
BofA Securities raised its price target on the stock to $471 from $341, citing higher valuations for Tesla’s robo-taxi and robot businesses, along with a lower discount rate used in his model.
Despite the upward revision, Murphy maintained a Hold rating, calling Tesla’s valuation “stretched.”
“We continue to see TSLA as the company with the largest advantage in terms of autonomous driving initiatives and physical AI applications currently in the marketplace,” the analysts wrote.
The brokerage firm added:
However, we acknowledge that there are challenges in the near term and the current valuation is stretched
The stock trades at about 200 times estimated 2026 earnings, placing it among the most expensive names in the S&P 500, alongside Palantir Technologies.
According to FactSet, 43% of analysts covering Tesla rate it a Buy, compared with the broader S&P 500 average of around 55%.
The average analyst price target now sits at $395, up roughly $25 since Tesla’s third-quarter earnings miss on October 22.
Tesla’s recent momentum follows a 1.8% gain on Tuesday, when shares closed above $460 for only the fourth time.
Analysts attributed the move to optimism around Tesla’s AI ambitions, which investors see as key to its long-term growth story.
Musk’s $1 trillion pay package divides Tesla investors
The rally coincides with rising tensions over Elon Musk’s compensation plan, which will be put to a shareholder vote next week.
In a letter to investors on Monday, Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm warned that Musk might leave the company if shareholders fail to approve the plan.
The proposal, potentially worth up to $1 trillion if performance targets are met, has drawn sharp criticism.
Proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis urged shareholders to vote against it, prompting Musk to call them “corporate terrorists” during last week’s earnings call.
Despite the backlash, several high-profile investors have publicly backed the package.
The State Board of Administration of Florida, which manages over $280 billion in assets and holds more than $1 billion in Tesla shares, said it supports the pay package.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, a longtime Tesla supporter, also endorsed the plan, predicting it could drive “super-exponential growth.”
Tesla remains ARK’s largest holding, with around $1 billion in shares.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives echoed that sentiment, saying the compensation plan would help keep Musk focused on advancing Tesla’s “autonomous and robotics future.”
However, opposition remains strong among institutional investors.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, whose office oversees a retirement fund holding 3.5 million Tesla shares valued at about $1.7 billion, urged shareholders to reject the package, citing an “alarming lack of independence” on Tesla’s board.
As Tesla’s annual meeting approaches, the outcome of the vote—and Musk’s reaction to it—could prove pivotal for the stock’s trajectory, even as it hovers within reach of record highs.
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