Tesla stock angled higher early Monday as the EV giant began rolling out its latest Full Self-Driving, or FSD, upgrade over the weekend to employees and limited outside customers. TSLA shares are consolidating around highs.
The EV giant has hyped-up expectations by predicting its FSD version 13 will show a six-times improvement in terms of miles-per driver intervention. Currently, FSD v13 appears to be a limited version, but has the ability to unpark, reverse, and park. It is still listed as "supervised" FSD, according to Tesla.
"New brain who dis (sic)," the company's artificial intelligence social media account, Tesla AI, posted to X on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Stifel on Monday hiked its Tesla stock price target to 411, up from 287, essentially all on a "clearer path" for the Cybercab, or robotaxi, and Tesla's FSD technology. The Stifel analysts maintained EBITDA targets essentially flat for 2024-2025 and lowered them for 2026.
Tesla stock also received an upgrade to a buy rating, up from neutral, from Roth MKM on Monday. The analysts have a 380 price target on the shares compared to its previous 80 Tesla stock price target.
Roth MKM writes that Musk's "authentic support for (President-elect) Trump likely doubled Tesla's pool of enthusiasts and lifted credibility for a demand inflection."
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has said he expects FSD to achieve true self-driving by mid-2025, though he's said similar "this year" or "next year" statements for about a decade.
Musk on the third-quarter earnings call said he expects "fully autonomous unsupervised FSD in California and Texas next year — that's with the Model 3 and Model Y." However, Musk admitted that he tends to be a "little optimistic with time frames."
Musk also conceded on the Q3 call that Tesla EVs with Hardware 3.0 might not be able to achieve true self-driving. He said if that's the case, Tesla will upgrade FSD customers with HW3.0 for free.
TSLA stock advanced 3.5% to 357.09 during market trade on Monday.
Tesla Stock Performance
Tesla stock fell 2.1% to 345.16 last week, but popped 3.7% on Friday. Shares have been consolidating around 34-month highs for the past couple of weeks.
The EV giant is on a 42% tear since Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election. TSLA stock has surged in recent weeks in part on hopes that self-driving is coming soon, with the Trump administration easing the regulatory path. On Nov. 25, Tesla stock hit a high of 361.93.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull, wrote on Sunday that Trump could "accelerate some of the FSD and autonomous initiatives for Tesla once he is in the White House."
"The autonomous fast tracking will be front and center for investors in this scenario as some of the 2026-27 goals for Tesla could be markedly accelerated to stay on track with the China timeline for autonomous currently underway," Ives said.
"We believe a Trump White House helps unlock the $1 trillion of autonomous/AI value to Tesla's stock as autonomous/FSD is likely accelerated starting in 2025 and a tailwind for Cybercab timing," he added.
Meanwhile, Tesla continues to ramp up incentives, especially in the U.S., as the company targets record deliveries in Q4. The EV giant recently announced a year-end discount on local Model Y sales.
Analyst consensus currently forecasts 498,000 vehicle deliveries in Q4 and 1.79 million for 2024, according to FactSet. Tesla's previous quarterly high-water mark was 485,000 in Q4 2023.
Tesla stock ranks first in the 35-member IBD Auto Manufacturers industry group. The stock has an 88 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Shares also have a 95 Relative Strength Rating and a 78 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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