Tesla's 2025 Dark Chapter Over, Analyst Says AI, Autonomous To Lift Valuation, End 'Black Cloud' Over Stock

Tesla Inc TSLA bull and analyst Dan Ives has raised the price target on the electric vehicle stock once again ahead of an upcoming robotaxi launch.

The Tesla Analyst: Wedbush analyst Ives maintained an Outperform rating on Tesla and raised the price target from $350 to $500.

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The Analyst Takeaways: Tesla is set to benefit from a new era of autonomous vehicles, Ives said in the new investor note.

"We believe the golden age of autonomous is now on the doorstep for Tesla with the Austin launch next month kicking off this key next chapter of growth for Musk & Co.," Ives said.

The analyst said the kickoff will help provide a "massive stage of valuation creation ahead."

Ives said Tesla started 2025 with a dark chapter due to Musk's role in President Donald Trump's administration, a move that created brand damage for the company and put a "black cloud over the story."

The analyst said those days are in the rear-view mirror, and Musk is now committed to leading Tesla into the autonomous and robotics future.

"We believe the core focus for investors is the AI Revolution is now coming to Tesla … which will make Tesla one of the best pure plays on AI over the next decade."

Ives said the majority of valuation upside for Tesla stock ahead comes from the autonomous vision and the June launch in Austin, ushering in the next era of growth.

"We estimate the AI and autonomous opportunity is worth at least $1 trillion alone for Tesla."

Tesla could see autonomous vehicle items get fast-tracked by the new Trump administration, Ives adds.

"We believe Tesla could reach a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2026 in a bull case scenario."

Ives said he has never viewed Tesla "simply as a car company," with valuation metrics counting on future revenue from items like autonomous driving, FSD, AI and robotics.

"We believe Tesla remains the most undervalued AI play in the market today. Rome was not built in a day … and neither with Tesla's autonomous and robotics strategic vision."

TSLA Price Action: Tesla stock is down 1.09% to $337.33 on Friday at publication versus a 52-week trading range of $167.41 to $488.54. Tesla stock is down 11.2% year-to-date in 2025, while shares are up over 90% in the last year.

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