Why is Tesla stock climbing today?

Tesla stock climbed 2.8% in morning trading today, building on Monday’s sharp rally after Barclays upgraded the electric vehicle maker to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its price target to $450 from $370, a move that continues to reverberate through the market. Barclays analyst Dan Levy cited a confluence of catalysts: the prospect of a strategic combination with SpaceX — where both companies have formed special exploratory committees — alongside an operational turnaround in Tesla’s core automotive business and accelerating robotaxi momentum.

The upgrade is not the only force lifting sentiment. Analyst bearishness on Tesla has fallen to its lowest level in roughly 11 years, with sell-rated analysts now representing just a small fraction of total coverage, after BNP Paribas and CLSA also removed negative ratings last week. Adding to the positive backdrop, Latvia’s regulatory approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software made it the tenth EU member state to greenlight the technology, reinforcing the growth trajectory of what management has called the key demand driver for its vehicles — a product now subscribed to by more than 75% of new North American buyers.

The broader market is providing a constructive, if modest, backdrop today, with the NASDAQ gaining 0.7% and the S&P 500 adding 0.3%, supported by a busy week of major technology earnings and the afterglow of Anthropic’s landmark IPO filing. The wider auto sector is also in positive territory, with Tesla clearly leading the group. The SpaceX merger narrative has attracted fresh institutional attention, with some analysts projecting a combined entity that could command a multi-trillion-dollar valuation.

Taken together, a high-profile analyst upgrade, a structural shift in Wall Street sentiment, expanding FSD regulatory reach in Europe, and a compelling merger narrative have combined to keep Tesla shares elevated well above their prior-week levels, with the stock trading near the top of today’s intraday range of $395.25 to $404.