On the eve of the June autonomous driving release, this "Tesla superfan" investment bank set a target price of $500

As Tesla launches its autonomous taxi Cybercabs in June, "Tesla superfan" Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives significantly raised Tesla's 12-month price target from $350 to $500 on Friday, setting the highest expectation on Wall Street.

Ives stated in his research report:

"We believe the golden age of autonomous driving is now at Tesla's doorstep, and the launch in Austin next month will mark the beginning of a crucial new chapter for Musk and his team’s growth."

This bullish analyst views autonomous driving technology as the core driver for Tesla's future margin expansion and valuation increase. He also mentioned that in a bull market, Tesla could reach a market value of $2 trillion by the end of 2026.

Ives: Tesla's Valuation Reshaped Under Autonomous Driving Catalyst

Ives pointed out that with Musk stepping back from his DOGE role and the Trump administration potentially easing regulatory hurdles, Tesla is well-positioned to advance its FSD and AI goals. Ives stated:

"We estimate that the opportunities in AI and autonomous driving are worth at least $1 trillion to Tesla, and we fully expect these key initiatives to be rapidly advanced under a Trump White House, as the federal regulatory hurdles that Musk and his team faced around FSD/autonomous driving over the past few years will be significantly cleared under Trump."

In terms of AI positioning, Ives described Tesla as "the most undervalued AI concept stock in today's market," placing it alongside top tech companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, Palantir, Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet as long-term AI winners.

Despite the optimistic outlook, Ives also acknowledged that the transformation path will not be smooth. He summarized:

"Rome wasn't built in a day... Tesla's vision for autonomous driving and robotics won't be either. There will be many setbacks.

But given its unparalleled scale and scope globally, we believe Tesla has the opportunity to dominate the autonomous driving market and eventually license its technology to other automakers in the U.S. and around the world."

From a more macro perspective, Tesla's unique positioning in 2025 cannot be overlooked. From electric vehicles, AI, to space technology, grid technology, tunnels, and even neural interfaces, Musk controls an empire of strategic frontier technologies that are crucial for ensuring U.S. dominance in the 2030s