One of Tesla Motors’ biggest bulls has gotten even more bullish on the EV manufacturer. Analyst Andrea James of Dougherty & Co. increased her price target from $330 to $355 per share. To come up with her new price target, she added $25 per share to her sum-of-the-parts model to account for Tesla’s energy storage business.
What is Tesla’s energy storage business worth?
Analysts from various firms have ascribed a wide range of per-share values to Tesla’s recently announced energy storage business. James’ estimate is toward the lower end of the range, as some analysts have suggested that the business could be worth as much as $40 or even a staggering $90 per share.
The analyst said she has spoken with “a dozen experts and companies in this space” and surveyed 30 installers of solar panels. Based on her findings, she believes Tesla’s energy storage business will disrupt the grid storage market. She notes that the main advantage of Tesla’s system is in “offering a turn-key solution, at scale and at favorable costs.”
Indeed, Mercedes also apparently think getting into the grid energy storage business is a good idea, as it too announced plans to develop its own storage system.
Solar energy for the world
James believes that Tesla could push human evolution forward because “harnessing the sun’s energy represents humanity’s next great leap forward.” She noted that Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested that eventually we will be able to fulfill all of Earth’ energy needs by collecting and storing solar energy. As others have also suggested, the analyst thinks Tesla is providing the “missing piece of the solar puzzle” with its energy storage systems.
She believes Tesla will sell 75,000 of its Powerpack systems and install 80,000 of its Powerwall systems globally in 2020. She noted that already approximately 645,000 U.S. homes and businesses have solar panel systems installed, citing data from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
As of this writing, shares of Tesla Motors were up 0.44% to $247.01 per share.
