Why Is Wall Street So Bullish on Tesla? Here's the $1 Trillion Reason

Dan Ives, a notable analyst at Wedbush Securities, has a $500 price target on Tesla (TSLA 3.13%) stock — the highest of any analyst. Why is he so bullish? It all comes down to a $1 trillion opportunity that he thinks should send Tesla’s stock price soaring for years to come.

Ives loves Tesla’s robotaxi division

When it comes to electric car stocks, Tesla is king. The company produces more electric vehicles than any other automaker in North America. But it’s not vehicle manufacturing that has Ives excited. Instead, he’s brashly optimistic about the prospects for one key division: Tesla’s fledgling robotaxi business.

“The vast majority of valuation upside looking ahead for Tesla is centered around the success of its autonomous vision taking hold with a key June launch in Austin,” Ives wrote to investors earlier this year. Other Wall Street experts believe Tesla is kick-starting what should become a $10 trillion global robotaxi market.

While Tesla’s robotaxi division will take years to fully play out, Ives is surprisingly bullish about its near-term impact. Ives believes Tesla “remains the most undervalued AI play in the market today.” He anticipates a $2 trillion valuation for Tesla over the next 12 to 18 months — double Tesla’s current market cap.

To be clear, Ives is a clear outlier. The average Wall Street price target for Tesla right now is around $300 — below Tesla’s current trading price. But Ives and other analysts remain excited due to their expectations for Tesla’s robotaxi opportunity. Tesla has the capital, manufacturing capacity, and brand name recognition to pull it off. But the timeline could be more stretched than Ives and others believe. Ives has dramatically increased and decreased his price targets in the past, so investors should conduct their own research and form their own conclusions.