By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- It's looking good for carmakers, and not just Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
Oppenheimer gave the Elon Musk-led company its highest price target yet at $1,036, compared to the previous high of $950.
Meanwhile Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) is calling General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) a buy and adding Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) to its short-term Catalyst Buy List with a better-than-expected 2021 ahead, according to StreetInsider. Analyst Emmanuel Rosner also cited electric vehicles at both old-school manufacturers as part of the excitement.
Tesla was little changed, GM was up close to 2% and Ford rose almost 5%.
Oppenheimer said it expects Tesla to be a leader in autonomous vehicles and continue to stay ahead in electric cars. The firm acknowledges the insane run up in shares over the past year, with the stock doubling again since November, and investors at a bit of a loss.
“We believe bulls are betting on TSLA leading commercialization of autonomous vehicles technology," Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch said, raising the price target by more than double from $486, and maintaining a buy-equivalent rating.
Oppenheimer is somewhat hesitant over Tesla's lack of incorporating LiDAR technology into its vehicles but, "the learning cycles enabled by having over 1M vehicles on the road is an extraordinary advantage."
GM, in the meantime, may provide an update on its electric and autonomous vehicle plans when it reports fourth quarter earnings, and Ford is expected to present a redesigned EV strategy, Deutsche Bank's Rosner said.
Rosner reiterated a buy rating and initiated a 'Catalyst Call Buy' on GM, expecting it to possibly provide better-than-expected 2021 guidance in the $6 to $7 range vs. consensus of $5.92. The upside is expected to come from strong full size truck pricing and volume, ongoing structural cost savings and the non-repeat of the $1.2 billion Takata recall charge.
For Ford, Rosner added the hold-rated company to its short-term Catalyst Call Buy List on a robust product cycle, favorable pricing for U.S. trucks and restructuring savings.
Ford could reboot its global restructuring program, and present a redesigned EV strategy, Rosner said.
"For 2021, we are forecasting Ebit/EPS of $7.5bn/$1.20, above consensus of $6.8bn/$1.00, and think management could guide Ebit/EPS well above $7bn/$1.00," the analyst said, according to StreetInsider. "Ford is on the cusp of an attractive product launch cycle (new F-series, Bronco, Mach-E), which should boost volume/price."
Ford's also likely to obtain restructuring savings from its efforts in South America where it recently exited Brazil. "These tailwinds should more than offset the negative impact from higher commodity costs," Rosner said.