Gary Zhou 
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) top bull Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities has raised his outlook on the electric automaker’s stock, indicating the company could own around half of the massive $5 trillion U.S. EV market.
“We believe there is $5 trillion of EV auto market dollars up for grabs with Tesla likely to own $2.5 trillion of this pie,” Ives said on Thursday night. Ives attributes at least $400 per share to Tesla’s growth story in China. Ives raised Wedbush’s price target on Tesla shares from $1,100 to $1,400, while simultaneously bringing the bull case to $1,800.
Tesla shares were trading at $1,103.73, up .67% as of 10:49 ET.
Ives is likely bullish on Tesla’s strength in China in 2022 due to the imminent approval and operation of Tesla’s European Gigafactory facility, Giga Berlin. The plant, located in Germany, is set to begin production within the coming months. However, Tesla has not had a direct source to the European market and has instead opted to export vehicles from China to Europe. This move has contributed to Tesla’s Gigafactory Shanghai facility effectively splitting the plant’s output between Europe and China.
Tesla started exporting vehicles to Europe from China in August. On the heels of the news that the automaker was planning to sustain customer satisfaction in Europe through exports, Ives said the process was “a logistical nightmare that is not sustainable and thus pushing back delivery times for customers throughout the region.” Ives may have understood the general mindset around the decision to export vehicles, but felt the opening of a new factory in Europe was “a positive step on expanding Tesla’s broader manufacturing capacity globally.” Wedbush believes China could account for up to 40% of Tesla deliveries.
As for the U.S. market, the EV sector is growing quickly both from a consumer and manufacturer standpoint. Wedbush projects a $5 trillion U.S. EV market in the coming years and expects Tesla to already have secured half of the hypothetical pie. Other companies could be fighting for the remaining 50%.
“Traditional stalwarts such as GM, Ford, VW, and EV-focused vendors such as Lucid, Rivian, Fisker and others going after massive consumers dollars up for grabs the next decade,” Ives wrote in a note.
Wedbush has remained widely consistent on its Tesla thesis for some time, regularly solidifying the firm’s stance that the electric automaker will dominate the growing electric auto sector for the foreseeable future. “We have always treated Tesla as a disruptive technology vendor and not a traditional auto vendor,” Wedbush wrote. “The EV stocks are reflecting future parabolic growth and margin potential over the coming years, with now the execution/capacity story taking hold into 2022.”
Ives is ranked 8th out of 7,730 analysts on TipRanks.
