Tesla (TSLA) shares rose as much as 1.1% in early trading on Friday, putting the stock on track to extend its longest winning streak in more than a year and maintain its position as the market leader.
After rallying 30% over the past seven sessions — and up nearly 40% over the past month — the stock is approaching its 2024 breakeven point after falling as much as 40% so far this year through mid-April.
The S&P 500 is up a modest 3.5% over the past month.
Tesla’s continued rally comes after the automaker reported better quarterly deliveries earlier this week.
In addition to these production and delivery results, Tesla optimists also highlighted the company’s fastest-growing division: its energy storage business.
“Tesla got its Independence Day celebrations off to an early start with positive second-quarter deliveries, a 33,000 inventory drop and a big markup to remind investors it’s not just a car company,” Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas wrote in a recent note.
Another positive catalyst came after the Chinese provincial government released its purchase list, which also included locally built Tesla cars, on Thursday.
According to Reuters, Tesla’s Model Y vehicle has been listed for Jiangsu province in eastern China, meaning government employees are allowed to purchase the vehicle as a service vehicle.
Tesla is facing stiff competition from its Chinese counterparts abroad and slowing demand for electric vehicles in the U.S. In an effort to cut costs, the company earlier this year began a plan to cut more than 10% of its global workforce, which some analysts saw as a sign of tough times ahead.
The company also cut prices last year to boost sales.
At Tesla’s shareholder meeting last month, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that demand and sales will still be tough in the near term as the industry is in a transition period.
“There is still the risk of further price cuts in the future, and there is still a risk that prices will fall.” [are] “There are still questions about fundamentals, we’re still sort of in the EV winter on demand,” Barclays senior equity research analyst Dan Levy told Yahoo Finance earlier this week. “So, good outcome. But I think the fundamental macro backdrop is still the same.” Levy has an Equal Weight rating on the stock and a $180 price target.
Tesla is set to report its quarterly results on July 23 after the market closes. Analysts are also looking ahead to August 8, when the company will unveil its long-awaited robotaxi.
“The key for Tesla stock is that Wall Street recognizes that Tesla is the most undervalued AI player in the market,” Wedbush CEO Dan Ives wrote in a note this week, raising his price target on the stock to $300 from $275, with a new bullish scenario of $400 for 2025.
Ives added that the company’s robotaxi event on August 8 will “push the yellow brick road to [full self-driving] and an autonomous future.”
The stock has pared all of this year’s losses and is up more than 70% since the lows of late April.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X on @ines_ferre.
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