Tesla Stock Is Rising. Analyst Sees ‘Limited’ Focus on Fundamentals.

Tesla stock fell while the market rallied on Friday, which makes Monday’s gain a relief for investors watching the stock after its recent surge. Still, no one should mistake Tesla ’s recent moves for anything based on the fundamental factors driving the business.

Let’s back up. Tesla’s stock has been on a tear of late, which makes Friday’s move something of a puzzle. Shares of the electric-vehicle maker dropped 3.5% on Friday, closing at $421.06, while the S&P 500 rose 1.1%.

There wasn’t a great reason for the divergence. “To me, [Tesla stock] was wildly overbought and long hedge funds needed a reason to take some profits,” says Future Fund Active exchange-traded fund co-founder and Tesla shareholder Gary Black .

“Overbought” is a trading term that essentially means the stock has gone up a lot quickly. When that happens, it can be a sign a lot of good news is reflected in the price and that there aren’t many buyers left to fuel more gains.

Some profit-taking in Tesla shares is natural—especially considering the rally. Coming into Monday, Tesla stock had risen 69% this year and 67% since the Nov. 5 election . Shares have declined 12% from a record closing high of $479.86 on Dec. 17.

Tesla stock closed up 2.3% at $430.60, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.

One thing helping shares was a report from Barclays analyst Dan Levy . He expects the company to deliver 515,000 vehicles this quarter. Wall Street expects Tesla to deliver roughly 510,00 vehicles, according to various consensus aggregators, a record for any quarter.

Better-than-expected results can help any stock, but Levy’s number is important for another reason. Tesla needs to deliver about 515,000 vehicles to increase deliveries in 2024 compared with 2023. While Tesla delivered 1,808,581 vehicles in 2023, it shipped 1,293,656 in the first three quarters of 2023, down about 7% year over year.

Levy isn’t a Tesla bull. He rates shares Hold and has a $270 price target on the stock. A “beat could keep narrative momentum strong,” wrote Levy. “But [a] focus on fundamentals [is] limited overall.”

Tesla stock has added about $170 a share since the election, boosting Tesla’s market value by more than $550 billion, even though the car business hasn’t changed all that much.

Investors, however, are thinking about earnings. They believe Tesla’s self-driving robo-taxi business will drive significant value. That business is slated to begin in late 2025.

Levy is less optimistic, though. He even used the word “meme” in his report, referring to stocks that go wild for little reason.

Overall, about 46% of analysts covering Tesla stock rate shares Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target for Tesla stock is about $296 a share, up about $60 sine the election.

No matter what happens in the last few days of the trading year, 2024 will have turned out quite well for Tesla investors. It is their reward for enduring volatility. Don’t forget, Tesla stock bottomed out below $$140 a share in April.

A new investment fund targeting celebrity-founded consumer brands has secured US$40 million in commitments and is rapidly approaching its US$50 million fundraising target, signalling growing investor appetite for alternative opportunities beyond traditional asset classes.

The Global Talent Fund, which has a maximum raise of US$100 million, focuses on building and investing in consumer businesses alongside celebrities, athletes, and influential personalities who play an active role as co-founders rather than simply endorsing products.

The strategy is based on the belief that changes in consumer behaviour, particularly the rise of social media and digital engagement, have fundamentally altered how brands are built and scaled.

GTF founding partner Jeremy Hunt, who is helping lead the fund’s strategy, said consumers increasingly feel connected to personalities they follow online and are more willing to support products developed by those individuals.

“Consumers are searching for content to engage with, and when a celebrity they like or follow takes them on the journey of creating a product or brand, they genuinely feel part of that process,” he said.

The fund is targeting high-growth consumer sectors including wellness, hydration, beauty and recovery, areas Hunt believes continue to benefit from strong global demand and ongoing innovation.

Rather than backing celebrity endorsement deals, the fund is seeking businesses where talent is deeply involved in product development, brand creation and long-term growth.

According to Hunt, authenticity remains one of the biggest differentiators between successful celebrity-backed brands and those that fail.

“The consumer can see clearly if someone is simply being paid to promote a product,” he said. “The winners are typically the brands where the celebrity has genuinely helped build the business from the ground up.”

The model has attracted support from several prominent Australian investors and business families, reflecting broader interest in alternative investments with global growth potential.

Hunt said consumer brands offered a level of tangibility that many investors found appealing.

“Consumer brands are what we touch, feel, smell and taste every day,” he said. “Our investors understand the growth potential in the model, but they also want to be part of the journey.”

The fund’s rapid progress towards its fundraising target comes amid growing recognition that celebrity influence, when combined with strong commercial execution and scalable business models, can create significant enterprise value.

With several high-profile celebrity-founded businesses generating billion-dollar exits in recent years, supporters of the strategy believe the opportunity remains in its early stages.

For more information, contact marc@kanerbridge.com.au

Tesla Stock Is Rising. Analyst Sees ‘Limited’ Focus on Fundamentals.

With US$40 million already committed, the Global Talent Fund is attracting investor attention with a strategy focused on building globally scalable consumer brands alongside high-profile talent.