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The Ratings Game: Tesla stock price target more than doubled at UBS, as long-time skeptic sees EV leader ‘winning’ in software

A long-time skeptic on Tesla Inc. 's stock, UBS analyst Patrick Hummel, has more than doubled his stock price target, saying the narrative is no longer about the company's leadership in electric vehicles, it's about "winning" in software. Read More...

A long-time skeptic on Tesla Inc. ‘s stock, UBS analyst Patrick Hummel, has more than doubled his stock price target, saying the narrative is no longer about the company’s leadership in electric vehicles, it’s about “winning” in software.

Hummel raised his price target to $730 from $325, while keeping his rating at neutral. His new target has swung to be 20% above the average target of the 34 analysts surveyed by FactSet — $608.58 — from being 46% below it.

He has been neutral on Tesla since March 2020, after being at sell or not rated since at least December 2017.

Tesla’s stock TSLA, -4.84% slumped 4.8% to $653.20, the lowest close since Dec. 23, adding to Tuesday’s decline of 4.5%. After falling 14.9% in February, the worst monthly performance since it tumbled 21.6% in March 2020, it has now lost 26.0% since closing at a record $883.09 on Jan. 26.

Hummel said that while legacy vehicle makers who are now “all-in” on electric vehicles can challenge Tesla’s EV volume leadership, Tesla remains the undisputed technology leader in the space, most notably in software.

“This is the next battleground and main driver of valuation from here, in our view,” Hummel wrote in a note to clients.

He said becoming one of the largest and most profitable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) by 2030 is worth about $200 billion in market value for Tesla, in his base case analysis. That leaves more than $400 billion in market value for everything else, he said. Tesla’s market capitalization as of Tuesday’s close was $658.9 billion.

“We think the lion’s share of this value can be generated by software, mainly autonomous driving,” Hummel wrote. “With that, Tesla has the potential to become one of the most valuable software companies.”

Tesla’s stock has soared 335.8% over past 12 months, while legacy OEM General Motors Co. shares GM, -2.66% have rallied 67.1% and the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.31% has advanced 22.0%.

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