Tesla jumps 19.9%, biggest one-day gain in 6 years

Shares of Tesla soared 19.9% on Monday after Argus Research raised its price target to $808 from $556 and short-sellers scrambled to catch up to the stock. The move was the biggest one-day jump since May, 2013. The firm’s analysts cited Tesla’s strong fourth-quarter financials, which exceeded Wall Street’s expectations last week. It also raised its earnings per share estimate to $8.01 from $5.96 and expects that to double by 2021.

The shares were trading just over $717 after the opening bell and hit an all-time high of $786.14. The stock is up more than 85% year to date. Tesla said Wednesday that its vehicle deliveries should “comfortably exceed 500,000 units” for 2020. It had already reported deliveries of 112,000 vehicles globally during its fourth quarter. The delivery, a record for Tesla, exceeded Wall Street’s expected 106,000.

Tesla said Jan. 3 that it delivered 92,550 Model 3 cars and 19,450 Model S and X vehicles during the fourth quarter. It was expected to deliver 87,900 Model 3, 9,800 Model S and 9,300 Model X vehicles. Argus Research analyst Bill Selesky had already raised his price target on the company once this year, which made him the biggest bull among analysts at the time. On Jan. 7, Selesky raised his 12-month target to $556 from $396, citing strong fourth-quarter deliveries.