Tesla stock surges above $700 a share on a torrent of good news - Los Angeles Times

Tesla Inc.’s stock rallied for a fifth day Monday, leaping more than $100 per share, as a torrent of good news further boosted investor sentiment.

The shares rose as much as 21% to $786.14, their highest price ever, notching their biggest intraday gain since May 2013.

Earlier in the day, Panasonic Corp., which makes batteries for Tesla at its jointly operated battery plant in Nevada, said the unit turned profitable in the quarter that ended Dec. 31. The rapid increase in Tesla’s output helped push that battery business into the black, Panasonic Chief Financial Hirokazu Umeda told reporters in Tokyo on Monday, declining to give specific figures.

Another boost came from Argus analyst Bill Selesky, who raised his price target on Tesla to a Wall Street-high of $808 per share from $556. Selesky’s move reflected revenue growth from the legacy Model S and Model X cars, as well as strong demand for the new Model 3, which accounted for more than 80% of the electric-car maker’s fourth-quarter production.

“Despite past production delays, parts shortages, labor cost overruns, and other difficulties, we expect Tesla to benefit from its dominant position in the electric vehicle industry and to improve performance in 2020 and beyond,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients. Selesky reiterated a “buy” rating.

Also, over the weekend, ardent Tesla bull Catherine Wood of ARK Investment Management told Bloomberg that the stock is still “incredibly undervalued.” According to ARK’s latest note, published Friday, its 2024 expected value per share for Tesla is $7,000.

And according to a regulatory filing Monday, Baillie Gifford & Co., Tesla’s biggest outside shareholder after CEO Elon Musk, increased its stake in the company. Baillie Gifford now holds a 7.67% stake in the company, up from 7.46% previously.

After kicking off 2019 on unsure footing, with doubts about demand and profitability swirling and weighing on the shares, Tesla’s stock bounced back in the second half of the year. It has taken off over the last few months as the company posted profits for both the third and fourth quarters, deliveries impressed investors, and a China factory came online faster than expected.

Tesla shares have now risen 83% in just 2020 alone. They have tripled in value since third-quarter results were reported in mid-October.

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