Oppenheimer Doubles Tesla Price Target to $1,036

Tesla’s (TSLA) stock grew exponentially last year, and since then, the company has bulls and bears alike speculating as to what might happen next.

On Wednesday, Colin Rusch of Oppenheimer raised his price target on Tesla from just $486 to $1,036, more than doubling the bullish goal, according to Market Watch. Rusch’s new price target now makes up the highest target out of 37 analysts surveyed, almost doubling the average price target of $542.60.

Rusch shared that Tesla’s new valuation which supports his price target is based on high-growth equity with major expansions, especially “as investors engage in price discovery related to inflationary pressures from stimulus measures.”

The analyst, who has maintained a rating of outperform on Tesla since August 2018, has also shared that he believes bulls expect Tesla to continue leading mainstream adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). The company’s potential downfall, he thinks, is its hesitancy to embrace Lidar, a laser sensing technology for autonomous vehicles.

While there has been at least one Tesla Model Y outfitted with Lidar spotted thus far, CEO Elon Musk has been outspoken about his belief that the company’s technology is unnecessary. Still, the technology is considered highly among autonomous driving circles, and there’s certainly a reason why.

At the time of writing, Tesla’s shares are trading at $846.37 (+0.22%) with an intra-day high of $859.50.