Tesla Stock Zooms To 2.5-Year High On BofA Price Target Hike, New Cybercab Buzz: Retail Gets Extremely Bullish

Tesla Inc. shares climbed over 4% on Thursday, reaching levels last seen in April 2022, fueled by a mix of bullish analyst updates, new developments on its robotaxi, and heightened retail enthusiasm.

BofA Securities analyst John Murphy raised Tesla’s price target to $400 from $350, reiterating a ‘Buy’ rating. 

The analyst said his confidence grew after a visit to Tesla’s Texas gigafactory, which included a factory tour, meetings with Investor Relations, and a ride-and-drive session. 

Murphy emphasized Tesla’s ability to expand its EV business, roll out its robotaxi offerings, and leverage longer-term initiatives like Optimus, its humanoid robot project.

He also highlighted Tesla’s opportunity to transition from hardware-driven margins to higher-margin software growth through Full Self Driving (FSD) adoption.

Retail enthusiasm surged following new details about Tesla’s Cybercab, a purpose-built robotaxi. 

According to Barron’s, a Tesla engineer on X revealed that the Cybercab will feature half the parts of a Model 3, implying that production costs would reduce significantly.

At an October event at Warner Bros. Studios, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the sleek, two-seat autonomous sedan, emphasizing its affordability — targeted under $30,000 — and ability to allow passengers to sleep while traveling. 

Production is slated to begin in 2026, but initial Wall Street reactions were muted due to a lack of detailed timelines.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Tesla turned ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘neutral’ a day ago, supported by increased message volume. 

One user speculated about a potential stock split as Tesla has done in the past, saying they “believe the trend is going to happen again possibly next year or in 2026.” 

Another predicted the stock would hit $450 by the end of the year.

Tesla was among the top ten most active tickers on Stocktwits Thursday afternoon.

Investor optimism has also been fueled by the U.S. election results. Market watchers believe Musk’s rapport with President-elect Donald Trump could lead to expedited federal regulations for self-driving cars, potentially accelerating Tesla’s robotaxi rollout.

Several Bitcoin enthusiasts have also pointed to Tesla’s cryptocurrency holdings — 11,509 BTC, valued at $1.16 billion after Bitcoin crossed $100,000 this week. 

A Stocktwits poll showed that 55% of Tesla’s retail followers expect Bitcoin’s rally to boost the EV maker’s stock. 

However, Future Fund LLC’s Gary Black downplayed its significance, arguing Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings contribute only $0.33 per share to its valuation.

Tesla has also managed to counter concerns about Musk’s compensation package being blocked by a Delaware court and analysts’ worries about no delivery growth this year.

Tesla stock has surged nearly 50% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500’s nearly 28% gain. 

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