Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and General Motors’ deal that will see the Detroit-based automaker utilize 12,000 Supercharger locations in North America and eventually adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector helped Wedbush push its price target on Tesla stock upward on Friday, analysts from the firm said.
Yesterday, GM became the second legacy automotive company, following Ford, to come to an agreement with Tesla, which will see 12,000 Supercharger locations be opened to those vehicles, accessible through an adapter.
In 2025, GM vehicles will be fitted with the NACS standard, eliminating the need for an adapter, officially making the cars accessible to Superchargers in the Tesla network.
General Motors joins Ford in adopting Tesla Supercharger Network and Connector
The move has been just one of several bullish indicators for Tesla stock in the past several weeks, with the first being the company’s nearly identical deal with Ford several weeks ago.
Last week, Tesla confirmed its entire Model 3 lineup now qualifies for the full $7,500 tax credit.
Now, Tesla’s deal with GM is driving the stock upward once again, as it is trading up over 5 percent at the time of writing, and analysts are making adjustments to price targets accordingly.
Dan Ives of Wedbush is one of them, as he changed the company’s price target from $215 to $300 on Friday while reiterating its ‘Outperform’ rating, citing CEO Elon Musk’s chess moves, while other companies are playing checkers.
We reiterate our OUTPERFORM on Tesla while raising our price target from $215 to $300 as the sum-of-the-parts story for Tesla now further comes into play with its supercharger network, energy business, AI driven autonomous path, unmatched battery ecosystem, and increased scale
— Dan Ives (@DivesTech) June 9, 2023
Ives writes in an note to investors:
“GM now follows its 313 rival jumping into the deep end of the pool with Tesla, as at the end of the day Tesla essentially owns the charging network ecosystem domestically and GM as well as Ford need access for success of its EV strategy and broader EV ambitions over the coming years.”
Additionally, Ives believes Tesla is taking advantage of a “large monetization opportunity for the company” as its Supercharger story adds another $3 billion to services revenue for the automaker with the opening of its network to rivals.
Ultimately, the opening of the Supercharger network is all part of the plan for Tesla, as its goal has always been to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy.
We mean it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2023
On top of Tesla’s Supercharger Network being opened to other companies, Ives reiterates the firm’s belief that the automaker will reach its 1.8 million unit delivery bogey for the year.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
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