While Elon Musk’s Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) faced roadblocks, his space exploration and satellite company SpaceX set a record number of satellite launches in 2022. Per Jonathan McDowell, who keeps the statistics of space activities, out of 180 successful rocket launches to orbit in 2022, 61 were launched by SpaceX. McDowell is an astronomer and astrophysicist at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Compared to 2021, SpaceX’s launches almost doubled in 2022. In 2021, SpaceX accomplished 31 launches. Most of the launches in 2022 included the Starlink constellation. Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet offering.
Notably, SpaceX plans to launch a commercial communications satellite (Amazonas Nexus satellite) into orbit on February 6. Once in service, the satellite will provide geostationary communications to the Americas, Greenland, and the Atlantic corridor. Earlier, the launch was planned for February 5. However, it was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
While SpaceX delivered a record number of satellite launches, economic uncertainty, and production headwinds posed challenges for Tesla. However, 2023 started on a solid note for TSLA shareholders. Tesla stock has gained over 54% in 2023. Elon Musk’s favorable commentary over demand and production is driving TSLA stock higher.
Is It a Good Time to Buy Tesla Stock?
Tesla stock marked a stellar recovery in 2023. However, Wall Street analysts are cautiously optimistic about it, given the fear of an economic slowdown and its impact on automakers. It has received 21 Buy, seven Hold, and three Sell recommendations for a Strong Buy consensus rating.
Meanwhile, analysts’ average price target of $191.68 implies a limited upside of about 0.89%.
While analysts see limited upside, hedge funds bought 1.2M TSLA stock last quarter. Meanwhile, with positive indicators from retail investors, TSLA stock has an Outperform Smart Score of eight.
