Wedbush ups Tesla price target with ‘dark chapter’ in ‘rear-view’

Wedbush raised the firm’s price target on Tesla (TSLA) to $500 from $350 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm says the “dark chapter” for Elon Musk and Tesla, which created “brand damage and a black cloud over the story,” are “are in the rear-view mirror.” Wedbush now sees a recommitted Musk leading Tesla as CEO into the company’s autonomous and robotics future with his days in the White House “now essentially over”. While there is still “some wood to chop to turn around” Model Y growth in China and Europe, the core focus for investors is the artificial intelligence revolution that is “now coming to Tesla,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Wedbush believes this will make Tesla one of the best pure plays on AI over the next decade. The 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 the beginning of this next era of growth for Musk and Tesla,” the firm contends.