3 Key Updates Wedbush Is Expecting From Tesla's Annual Shareholders Meeting Today

Tesla Inc’s TSLA annual shareholder meeting scheduled to be held at the Gigafactory Texas in Austin is taking place on Thursday and as per Wedbush Securities, the Elon Musk-led company will set the groundwork for the electric automaker’s story for the coming year at the event.

The Tesla Analyst: Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives has maintained an “outperform” rating and a 12-month price target of $1,000 on the stock.

Analyst Expectations: Ives said the meeting will likely see discussions centered around the semiconductor shortages and the supply build-out given the lingering chip constraints and the upcoming new factories. 

Here are the top takeaways Ives is expecting from the event:

Austin and Berlin Factory Update: The opening of Tesla’s Austin and Berlin factories remain key to the Elon Musk-led company’s expansion plans globally and Ives expects a fresh update on both fronts.

See Also: What to Expect From Tesla's Annual Shareholder Meeting Thursday

Tesla's new Gigafactory that's being built near Austin, Texas is expected to be completed this year and begin full-scale production in 2022.

“Austin in particular is very important as it will be the Cybertruck factory and down the road we ultimately believe Austin will be more of a domestic hub than Fremont given its size, location, and strategic blueprint,” Ives said.

The analyst expects Berlin Gigafactory will start producing the cars over the next month “despite the red tape.”

The move would relieve a major logistics bottleneck as most of Tesla’s Model 3s/Ys are being produced in China and shipped to Europe.

Semiconductor Shortages and Tesla’s Own Chips: The annual shareholder meeting closely follows Tesla posting record third-quarter deliveries despite the global chip shortages that seem to be hurting legacy automakers such as General Motors Co GM and Ford Motor Co F.

Ives is expecting Tesla to provide comments on the chip shortage, some moderation into 2022, and Musk’s focus on Tesla producing its own chips.

Others: Other areas of interest could be an update on Tesla's battery technology, China growth and demand, the competitive environment, as well as the company's view of its energy or solar business looking ahead, as per Ives. 

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 0.29% higher at $782.75 a share on Wednesday. 

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