Photo: Yahoo Finance

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives joined Yahoo Finance to share his views on Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). According to him, the manufacturer has a $5 trillion market opportunity in terms of electric vehicles, and the company represents the biggest transformation in the auto industry since the 1950s.

Tesla's strong rally this week indicates further gains, according to Ives. The manufacturer aims to transform the auto industry after it ended 2021 on a strong note. Tesla's Q4 deliveries exceeded expectations, prompting investors to remain optimistic about the stock. An additional positive is the anticipation of the start of production at Giga Texas and Giga Berlin.

The analyst said Tesla is a company with a $5 trillion market opportunity in terms of electric vehicles. The manufacturer is a big breakthrough and has caused the biggest transformation in the auto industry since the 1950s, he said on behalf of Wedbush.

“We're seeing, it's a $ 5 trillion market opportunity in terms of EV and it's the biggest transformation to the auto industry since the 1950s.”

According to an earlier analysis by the firm, Giga Texas should start operations in the coming days. Ives expects cars to start rolling out of the factory as early as next week. “Based on all of our work in and around Austin, we think starting next week we're going to get into the early stages of what I believe are cars rolling off the plant,” he said.

Ives stresses that the construction and approval of Giga Texas have gone smoothly and the hiring rate has been very high in recent months. He is confident that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made a bet on this factory because it will become the golden jewel of the ecosystem. “When you look at Austin in particular, it's been very smooth in terms of the build out,” Ives said. “Hiring has been very strong over the last few months, and that's why Musk has made such a bet on Austin in terms of that being really the golden jewel of the ecosystem,” the analyst added.

Wedbush maintains an “outperform” rating on the stock, with a $1,400 price target and a bull price target of $1,800. While more competitors jump into the EV space, Ives argued it's “not a zero-sum game” for Tesla.

“Ford's gonna be successful at it, GM, Lucid, VW in Europe and of course, NIO in China, but overall in EV land is Tesla's world,” the analyst explained. “Everyone else is paying rent at this point and that's what we're seeing” in the near term, Ives added.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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