BofA: Buy Tesla

Bank of America has kept a Buy rating on Tesla and set a $460 price target, arguing the bigger bet is robotaxis, not just car sales. (finance.yahoo.com) The call dates to March 4, when analyst Alexander Perry resumed coverage of Tesla after a change in Bank of America’s auto research team. He said Tesla was the “clear leader” in consumer autonomy and framed the stock around a sum-of-the-parts valuation rather than only vehicle deliveries. (investing.com) A robotaxi is a ride-hailing car that drives itself, turning a vehicle from a one-time sale into a service that can collect fares over time. Bank of America said that revenue stream is still in the “early innings,” meaning the bank sees the business as just getting started. (finance.yahoo.com) That thesis is landing as Tesla pushes the service into the market. Tesla says autonomous Robotaxi rides are now offered in Austin, Dallas and Houston, starting with Model Y vehicles, with its purpose-built Cybercab slated for later. (tesla.com) The timing also matters because Tesla’s core auto numbers have weakened. The company said it produced 408,386 vehicles and delivered 358,023 in the first quarter of 2026, and it plans to report full first-quarter financial results after the market closes on April 22, 2026. (ir.tesla.com) Tesla’s current consumer system is still labeled Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which Tesla says requires driver supervision and does not make the car fully autonomous. That leaves a gap between the company’s assisted-driving product for owners and the fully driverless economics implied by the robotaxi case. (tesla.com) Critics have focused on that gap and on safety data from the rollout. TechCrunch reported Tesla began offering rides without safety drivers in Austin in January 2026, and said a February filing showed 14 crashes involving Austin robotaxis since launch. (techcrunch.com) Competitors are also already operating in Texas. Electrek reported Tesla’s new Dallas and Houston service areas cover relatively small geofenced zones, while Waymo already has a broader commercial presence in the state. (electrek.co) Bank of America’s call boils down to a simple market argument: if investors start valuing Tesla as a platform for autonomous rides and software, not only as an electric-vehicle maker, the stock could trade on a different set of assumptions. Tesla’s April 22 earnings report is the next scheduled test of whether management can show that shift in numbers as well as narrative. (investing.com)