Tesla (TSLA) stock is soaring 5.00% in pre-market trading on Friday, following a significant upgrade from Baird analyst Ben Kallo. The electric vehicle maker's shares are gaining momentum as Wall Street increasingly focuses on its potential beyond just car manufacturing.
Kallo upgraded Tesla to Outperform from Neutral and substantially raised his price target from $320 to $548. The analyst's bullish stance is rooted in Tesla's transformation into a "physical AI" company, with a focus on robots and autonomous taxis. "Relatively muted stock reactions following a series of less-than-stellar quarters and investor inbounds regarding long-term initiatives lead us to believe focus has increasingly shifted to the future for TSLA," Kallo stated in his note.
Adding to the positive sentiment, Goldman Sachs also raised its price target for Tesla to $395 from $300, citing expectations of better-than-anticipated third-quarter vehicle deliveries. Analyst Mark Delaney projects Tesla to sell 455,000 cars in Q3, surpassing the consensus estimate of 445,000. As Tesla continues to evolve beyond its core automotive business, investors appear to be betting on the company's long-term potential in robotics, AI, and autonomous driving technology.

