(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. shares touched a new all-time high on Monday, hitting that milestone for a third straight trading session.
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It’s turning out to be a good day for the electric-vehicle maker, with research firm Jato Dynamics saying the company’s Model 3 was the top-selling vehicle in Europe last month, car-rental company Hertz Global Holdings Inc. reported to have placed an order for 100,000 Teslas and Morgan Stanley boosting its price target on the stock by a third.
Tesla jumped as much as 6.7% to a record high of $970.84 in New York, before paring gains to 4.4%, with the company’s market valuation around $955 billion.
Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas cited the company’s “extraordinary” sales growth as it overcame unprecedented industry supply shortages. Jonas said Tesla’s third-quarter sales surged by about 70%, according to his calculations, even as global automobile production fell by about a fifth. The company has claimed a place among the top manufacturers in terms of profit margins, Jonas said as he reiterated an overweight rating.
His new target of $1,200 is the joint second-highest among 46 analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
Tesla hit a record high last week after Elon Musk’s company reported earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, wrapping up a ninth-straight quarter of profit as the 18-year-old electric-vehicle maker outperforms rivals battling a dearth of semiconductors crucial for production.
Looking beyond the sales update, Tesla’s software business and technologies in areas like insurance and battery supply should allow it to become a “champion” of both autos and energy in the long-run, Jonas said.
(Updates stock moves throughout.)
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