Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has lost one of its biggest bears this morning as a longtime skeptic of the stock has adjusted their narrative and price target to something that is significantly more bullish.
Craig Irwin of Roth MKM upgraded shares of Tesla from Neutral to Buy and increased the price target the firm has on the stock from $85 to $380.
Irwin has been a skeptic of Tesla for a very long time. In December 2023, Irwin said Tesla was “egregiously” overvalued. Earlier this year he said the company’s price war was over and maintained a Hold rating on shares in October.
Things have changed drastically.
Irwin is bumping his price target to $380 and is suggesting investors buy the automaker’s shares, and there are a few reasons why.
First, Tesla stands to gain more than most companies from President-elect Donald Trump, who has already given CEO Elon Musk a role in the Department of Government Efficiency.
However, many analysts believe Musk’s tight relationship with Trump will help expedite things from a regulatory perspective, especially when it comes to autonomous driving, something Tesla is aiming to launch with its Cybercab in the coming years.
The removal of the $7,500 EV tax credit by Trump is also something that many analysts, including Irwin, actually see as a positive for Tesla. Dan Ives of Wedbush has already said that this will help Tesla fend off competition from other carmakers and will have more of an impact on legacy automakers than anyone.
The boost Tesla could feel from conservative voters, especially post-election, could also be drastic, Irwin wrote in a note to investors this morning:
“Enthusiasm for Tesla among conservative voters, comprising a mostly fresh buying pool, should also lift the demand trajectory.”
Irwin said the credibility of a 20 to 30 percent increase in deliveries for 2025 is boosted by a fresh pool of consumers added to Tesla’s potential customer list.
Conservative voters seem to lean against EVs more frequently than Democrats, but Musk’s angle with Trump might have helped sway some of the right-wing voters to support EVs, especially ones built by Tesla.
Tesla is trading at $354.46 at 11:53 a.m. on the East Coast.
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