(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley gave Tesla Inc. an overweight rating for the first time in more than three years, predicting that Elon Musk’s firm is on the verge of a “profound model shift” from selling cars to generating high-margin software and services revenue.
“To only Tesla on car sales alone ignores the multiple businesses embedded within the company,” analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note as he upgraded the shares from equal-weight and raised his price target by 50% to $540.
Tesla shares extended their surge on Wednesday, rising as much as 9.8% to $484.98. The stock jumped 8.2% Tuesday after it was selected for admission to the S&P 500 Index and has gained nearly 500% this year.
Jonas’s valuation now includes Tesla’s network services, energy storage and insurance businesses. The internet-of-cars opportunity is also real, and a prerequisite to unlock further gains for the stock, the analyst wrote.
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