Charged: Wall Street analyst initiates ‘must own’ Tesla with a Buy

Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.

From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla (TSLA), Wall Street’s newest darling Rivian (RIVN), traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM (GM) and Ford (F) to the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with “Charged,” a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.

Click here to check out Tesla’s recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.

MUST OWN: Melius Research initiated coverage of “must own” Tesla with a Buy rating and $520 price target. “The disruptive force of AI will wreck multi trillion dollar industries, starting with auto,” said the firm, which believes Tesla is unique in its ability to deliver on this potential. Melius cites assumed success in autonomous vehicles, though the firm acknowledges that the valuation in such a company is “guesswork.”

INTERNATIONAL SALES: Tesla sold around 5,400 of the Cybertruck pickup trucks last quarter, down 62.6% from the same period last year, according to data from Cox Automotive, Business Insider’s Tom Carter reports. CEO Elon Musk once said Tesla could build as many as 250,000 Cybertrucks a year, but so far in 2025, it’s sold 16,000, the report notes.

Tesla’s China-made electric vehicle sales increased 2.8% in September from a year ago, Reuters reports. Sales of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles made in its Shanghai plant, including exports to Europe and other markets, were up 9.2% from August, data from the China Passenger Car Association show.

BUY OKLO: Canaccord initiated coverage of Oklo (OKLO) with a Buy rating and $175 price target. The company’s nuclear reactor buildouts will be financed substantially with debt and further supported by investment tax credits, the firm tells investors in a research note. Canaccord believes this financing mix should bolster Oklo’s long-term returns on capital with minimal requirements for additional equity. A “new nuclear age emerging,” where nuclear assets grow in volume and as a percentage of the global energy mix, contends the firm.

BUY CONSTELLATION ENERGY: Seaport Research upgraded Constellation Energy (CEG) to Buy from Neutral with a $407 price target. Cash flows of thermal independent power producers are on the rise due to higher power and capacity prices, lower interest rates, and no cash taxes, the firm tells investors in a research note. The Calpine merger should close within the next 30 days, and Seaport says that it would want to be long for its post-merger earnings update. The firm expects more datacenter power deal announcements, as well as additional M&A and positive earnings revisions for thermal IPPs before the end of the year.

CLEAN ENERGY FUNDING: The White House is weighing canceling an additional $12B in funding for clean energy projects beyond what it announced a week ago, Semafor’s Tim McDonnell reports, citing a list of targeted projects. The so-called “kill list,” as it was referred to by a source who reviewed it, would amount to an escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy, as well as a sign that the White House is using the current government shutdown as a pretext for accelerating its broader policy agenda, the author notes. Publicly traded companies in the space include GE Vernova (GEV), Eversource (ES), NextEra Energy (NEE), Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP), Array Technologies (ARRY), Canadian Solar (CSIQ), Emeren (SOL), Enphase Energy (ENPH), FTC Solar (FTCI), First Solar (FSLR), JinkoSolar (JKS), Maxeon Solar (MAXN), Shoals Technologies (SHLS), SolarEdge (SEDG), SunPower (SPWR) and Sunrun (RUN).