Tesla (TSLA) Price on Solana

Deutsche Bank kept its buy rating on Tesla on September 25, according to CNBC's roundup of Friday's biggest analyst calls. The roundup does not mention any change to the firm's price target. The bank acknowledged that Tesla's third-quarter deliveries are coming in below expectations, but argued that the weak quarter alone is unlikely to push the stock far out of its recent range.

"Tesla stock continues to face many cross currents," Deutsche Bank wrote. "While 3Q deliveries are tracking softer than expected, we would not expect the stock to move too much outside the extremes." The note comes before Tesla publishes its official third-quarter delivery figures.

Tesla opened its dedicated heavy-duty Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada on September 24 and began customer deliveries from the site. The 1.8-million-square-foot plant is designed to build 50,000 trucks a year, about 1,000 a week. CNBC reported that Tesla expects to add more than 3,000 jobs in Nevada as output ramps, with high-volume production targeted for next year. One line builds Standard, Long Range and European-spec versions. The trucks use Tesla's redesigned 4680 battery cells, and Tesla quotes a range of up to 500 miles.

The opening is Tesla's biggest step yet in turning the Semi into a volume business. Elon Musk unveiled the truck in 2017 and said production would start in 2019. Tesla then sold only small numbers from 2022, starting with anchor customer PepsiCo. Trucks carrying the logos of PepsiCo, DHL, US Foods and Einride were on show at the launch. Einride has agreed to buy 500 Semis, and industry group ZET SCALE named Tesla its main manufacturer for an initial order of 2,500 trucks. Tesla also says a version of its self-driving software is coming to the Semi. The 50,000 figure is planned capacity, and Tesla has not said how many trucks the plant is building now.

Tesla plans to unveil the new Roadster on October 1. The car is likely to be the most expensive model Tesla has sold, judging by the $50,000 deposit it takes to join the order list. CNBC's Options Action trader Mike Khouw says TSLA options have not priced in much excitement around the event. One-month implied volatility sits around the 36th percentile, below its average, even though a product catalyst is days away and October has historically been a more volatile month than most.

With the Roadster order book open again and one-month premiums near the low end of their range, Khouw argues the setup favors a move back above the levels TSLA held before the Cybercab rollout, with the loss capped if the Roadster also leaves investors underwhelmed. His trade is a 380/440 call spread expiring October 30, which cuts premium cost compared with buying calls outright. That expiry covers three Tesla catalysts: the Roadster reveal, the quarterly delivery report and the next earnings release.

The Lamar Consolidated Independent School District board in Fort Bend County, Texas, unanimously approved a 50% property tax reduction for Tesla's planned $10 billion solar manufacturing facility, dubbed "Project Crystal Sun." The incentive applies from 2029 through 2038, cutting Tesla's tax bill in half over a decade. Elon Musk has targeted 100 gigawatts of annual domestic solar production capacity from the factory, estimating the ramp will take roughly three years. Tesla's energy segment already accounted for 13% of company revenue in 2025, up from 10% the prior year.

The solar expansion has indirect implications for Tesla's autonomous vehicle ambitions. A larger domestic energy infrastructure reduces grid constraints that would otherwise limit large-scale charging for a future fleet of robotaxis, creating a supply-chain link between Tesla's energy and transportation divisions.

Tesla has registered a new subsidiary, Tesla Motors Vietnam Ltd, in Ho Chi Minh City, according to local business registration records. The entity is licensed for vehicle export, import, and wholesale distribution, along with the wholesale of auto parts, machinery, and equipment — signaling a formal commercial foothold in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.

Tesla has not announced an operational launch date or dealer network plans. The move places the company in direct competition with VinFast, Vietnam's domestic EV manufacturer, which responded to anticipated Tesla pricing with promotional activity. Vietnam rounds out an Asia-Pacific footprint that already includes manufacturing in China and sales operations in South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco raised his bull-case price target on Tesla (TSLA) to $840 from $820, citing the company's long-term potential in recurring software revenue from autonomous vehicles. The scenario projects more than 80,000 autonomous Tesla Semi trucks operating by 2040, each generating roughly $18,000 per month in full self-driving (FSD) fees — a pool that could exceed $17 billion in annual high-margin revenue. Morgan Stanley maintains an equal-weight rating on the stock, and the $840 figure represents the upside scenario rather than the firm's base-case target of $400.

With Tesla trading near $357 and at roughly 200 times estimated 2026 earnings, Percoco's note underscores that the current valuation is difficult to justify on vehicle sales alone. The bull case depends on Tesla successfully commercializing robotaxis, Cybercabs, and the Optimus humanoid robot program — businesses that remain in early or pre-revenue stages. Investors who do not assign significant value to those future revenue streams have limited fundamental justification for the stock at current prices, according to the analyst.

Tesla is soliciting fleet buyers to operate Cybercabs on its ride-hailing platform, pitching an arrangement where fleet owners supply capital and handle depreciation while Tesla provides the autonomous driving technology, network management, and takes a cut of fare revenue. The two-seat Cybercab carries a $30,000 advertised price and Tesla has begun offering rides in Austin, Texas, with CEO Elon Musk having promoted the vision since 2018 as a combination of Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb economics.

Critics argue the deal structure heavily favors Tesla. Electrek's Fred Lambert contends that because Tesla "sets the split," fleet owners bear the capital costs and depreciation while Tesla retains the software margin—meaning buyers "own the downside" without owning a true business. Lambert's sharper point: if operating these fleets were reliably profitable, Tesla would not sell them at all. Additional concerns include NHTSA scrutiny over whether Cybercabs meet federal safety standards, the camera-only autonomy system's limitations, and early Cybertruck trade-in data suggesting steeper-than-expected depreciation curves for Tesla's newer vehicles.

Tesla investor Gary Black attributes the company's growing US EV market share to two structural shifts rather than product superiority: a broad pullback by legacy automakers and the 2025 Model Y redesign. Black noted that ICE manufacturers significantly scaled back EV investments in 2025 to stem losses — Ford discontinued the F-150 Lightning, while GM, Honda, and others retreated similarly — leaving Tesla with less competition in a market that itself contracted roughly 30% year-to-date through August. Tesla's own US sales are down around 2% over the same period, meaning share gains reflect a shrinking field more than accelerating demand.

Black was notably skeptical about Full Self-Driving as a share driver, stating it is "implausible that FSD is driving $TSLA share gains when no one other than TSLA bulls on X are aware of FSD." He advocated for Tesla to spend approximately $100 million marketing FSD to a broader audience, arguing broader awareness would lift both US EV and overall market share meaningfully. TSLA shares were down about 1.3% to $360.48 at the time of reporting.