Tesla stock rises as Stifel gets bullish on FSD, robotaxis

Tesla stock moved higher on Monday following a rough week as investment bank Stifel gets bullish.

Analyst Stephen Gengaro upped his Tesla price target to $508 from $483 and maintained his Buy rating, citing a sum-of-the-parts analysis and Tesla’s strength in full self-driving (FSD) and its robotaxi service.

“We believe that Tesla’s AI-based Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology and Robotaxi initiatives are critical to the story and a large part of our valuation,” Gengaro wrote in a note to clients.

Tesla stock rose 3% in early trade on Monday.

Read more about Tesla’s stock moves and today’s market action

With regard to FSD, Gengaro noted that Tesla’s advanced AI tech will improve the system’s decision-making and “jerky” responses and aid with tasks such as finding parking spots.

Tesla’s advanced Cortex AI training cluster at Giga Texas will help as FSD improves faster, with Gengaro noting his own experience with FSD “shows improvement” in the current version.

Gengaro is also bullish on Tesla’s robotaxi rollout, the paid service the company is offering in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.

“[Tesla] management noted plans to expand to roughly eight to 10 metropolitan areas by year-end 2025,” Gengaro said about executive comments during the Q3 earnings call. “In Austin, TSLA has expanded the coverage area three times since its initial launch in June 2025, and is operating with a safety driver. Robotaxi in the Bay Area is also making progress though safety drivers are still in place.”

The only hiccups in Stifel’s bull case for Tesla are for its automotive business. Falling gross profit per vehicle is a concern, with “flattish” average selling prices in the near future. Gengaro believed the cheaper “standard” edition Model Y and Model 3 EVs would help blunt the loss of EV tax credits.

Monday’s rise follows a somewhat rocky past week for the stock. Tesla stock shed 5.9% despite pulling higher on Friday. The stock had dropped well below the $400 support level on Thursday and Friday before bouncing back to close at $404.35. On Thursday, the stock hit lows not seen since September.

The recent move lower comes after CEO Elon Musk was awarded the largest potential payout in history, valued at nearly $1 trillion if he meets aggressive milestones over the coming years.

Even more noteworthy, over the weekend, Musk buddy and PayPal alum Peter Thiel significantly cut his Tesla stock holdings.

According to a new 13F SEC filing, Thiel Macro, the billionaire’s eponymous hedge fund, now holds only 65,000 shares of Tesla after selling 207,613 shares of Tesla in Q3, representing a 76% slash to the fund’s overall Tesla position.