Tesla Stock Price and Forecast: TSLA gains for third session in a row, cuts most of December losses

TSLA shares shot up 5.8% on Thursday.
Tesla says it will end front-seat video games while vehicles are in drive.
Tesla stock cut its December loss by two-thirds in just three sessions.

Clay Webster FXStreet

Tesla (TSLA) drove another 5.8% higher on Thursday to close at $1,067, just above the close from December 8 at $1,066.89. The electric vehicle king then traded up to $1,069.30 in the afterhours trade. The last three sessions before Christmas allowed it to cut December's losses from 21.4% to 7%. The last month of the year has seen TSLA shares drop precipitously from $1,147.52 to a low of $886.13 on Tuesday.

Tesla Stock News: Tesla gives in to NHTSA

Tesla management has agreed to halt its "Passenger Play" function that allows front-seat passengers to play video games on the center console screen. On Wednesday the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a safety investigation into 580,000 Tesla vehicles sold since 2017 that come equipped with the video game option. The NHTSA says that prior to December 2020, the games could only be played when the vehicle was in park.

Starting a year ago, however, the agency claims the games were made available to the front passenger when the vehicle was in drive. The agency had concluded than an investigation was warranted for safety purposes since drivers could become distracted. Tesla says a software update will lock the function when the vehicle is moving.

On Thursday, Tesla secured the majority of battery-grade graphite from a new Louisiania processing plant owned by Australia's Syrah Resources, according to Bloomberg. The processor will have an initial supply capacity of 10,000 short tons a year, and Tesla will have first right to any increased supply capacity. Syrah Resources will supply its graphite from Mozambique and says it could raise its output to 40,000 tons by the middle of this decade.

CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday that he was "almost done" with selling shares . He had promised to sell 10% of his stake in early November.

TSLA key statistics

Market Cap	$1.02 trillion
Price/Earnings	330
Price/Sales	25
Price/Book	38
Enterprise Value	$1.02 trillion
Operating Margin	10%
Profit Margin	7%
52-week high	$1,243.49
52-week low	$539.49
Short Interest	3%
Average Wall Street Rating and Price Target	Hold, $849.64

Tesla Stock Forecast: breaking $1,073 is next task

On Wednesday, Tesla's share price broke out of its top trend line yoke that has pushed TSLA stock down since December 1. By closing right on resistance near the $1,067 barrier, some traders may bail when markets reopen after Christmas.

$1,073 is next. Closing above this latter price will confirm the rally still has legs. Overpowering here will bring $1,165 into view, which provided resistance on November 30 and December 1.

Support is at $1,000, $950 and $893.

TSLA 1-day chart

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Author

Clay Webster

FXStreet

Clay Webster grew up in the US outside Buffalo, New York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He began investing after college following the 2008 financial crisis.

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