Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares just keep going higher and higher as it approaches the valuation of long-established automakers. First the relative newcomer to the auto industry overtook Italian automaker Fiat. Now it looks like Tesla could overtake French automaker Renault SA (EPA:RNO) in market capitalization.
Tesla continues to rise
Shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose more than 1 percent on Monday, pushing ever so closer to the $200 per share mark. Angelo Young of International Business Times notes that Tesla’s market cap is edging closer and close to that of Renault SA (EPA:RNO). However, Renault sold 1.3 million vehicles in the first half of this year, while Tesla sold just 10,500 luxury vehicles. Of course while Renault does offer some electric vehicles for the lower end of the auto market, the company still can’t offer the kind of range Tesla offers on its vehicles.
So what’s driving Tesla shares right now? Morgan Stanley analyst Jonas Adam believes we aren’t expecting any announcements that would move the market for Tesla shares. Over the weekend we did hear that reservations for Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s Model X crossover vehicle passed 6,000—even though the vehicle won’t be out until sometime next year.
Will TSLA hit the $200 price target?
Gradually more and more analysts have come around to see Tesla as the future of the auto industry. Dougherty & Co. analyst Andrea James was one of the earliest to say that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares will go to $200 a share, and other analysts, like those at Deutsche Bank, jumped on board as well.
So will Tesla bulls push the stock all the way up to that mark this week? Or will the exuberance give way to a bearish fundamental rationalization? If it continues to gain a little over a dollar a day in value, then we could see Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) hit $200 by the end of this week. It’s already more than $194 a share as of premarket trading this morning.
