TSLA: Tesla Stock Rallies as Valuation Soars to Record $1.5T, Musk’s Fortune Hits $486B

Electric-car maker continues to dazzle investors with its breakneck surge in the red-hot post-election rally. But how long can it last?

• Tesla stock TSLA is the end-of-year gift that keeps on giving. The EV maker led by the unfathomably rich Elon Musk added another 3.6% to its valuation Tuesday, hitting the record $1.5 trillion in market cap. The shares closed at $479.87 after Wedbush analyst Dan Ives boosted his price target to $515 a pop, from a previous target of $400. The new target translates to about $110 billion poured into Tesla’s value.
• But that’s not all — Ives has also slapped a “bull case” target of $650 a share, which would raise the market cap to more than $2 trillion. Earlier this week another analyst, Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh also hiked his price forecast to $515 a share, up from $230. With Wall Street as bullish as ever, the fortune of Tesla’s main man has skyrocketed. Elon Musk is now worth a mind-boggling $486 billion. With that pace, he could soon become the first man to be worth half a trillion.
• Tesla has been the biggest winner so far from Donald Trump’s election victory. Tesla could benefit from Trump’s expected deregulation and looser standards for self-driving vehicles. What’s more, the President-elect has pulled Musk into his inner circle and now the Tesla boss is looking to snatch a government role and oversee federal expenses (and cut those by trillions).