The Tesla Motors stock price climbed 1.5% in early morning trading today (Thursday) after news broke that Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) met with government officials in Chile for a proposed business opportunity, according to Reuters.
Tesla wants to work with state copper miner Codelco to create a new lithium venture. The batteries in Tesla vehicles rely heavily on lithium, and Reuters reports that the largest known deposits of lithium straddle salt flats in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia.
Codelco is currently the largest copper-producing company in the world, but has no stakes in lithium. With copper prices at six-year lows, this potential partnership could help the company pivot to more profitable endeavors.
For Tesla Motors, access to a large supplier of lithium is crucial for the company to expand its production...
By 2025, market intelligence company SignumBox estimates that lithium demand will exceed supply. A partnership with Codelco would not only help sustain Tesla Motors' current needs, but it would also provide Codelco and other companies an incentive to search for new supplies of lithium.
Along with the potential lithium venture, CEO Elon Musk has been preparing Tesla Motors for increased production by hiring more engineers.
Musk sent out a tweet on Nov. 19 that said, "Ramping up the Autopilot software team at Tesla to achieve generalized full autonomy." This is a great news for Tesla Motors stock and its shareholders, as increased production will lead to increased revenue.
Today's news provides relief for Tesla Motors stock shareholders. Because investors have been dealing with negative news from the company the last two weeks...
On Nov. 20, Tesla Motors announced it was recalling 90,000 Model S sedans because of seat belt issues. On that same day, authorities in Hong Kong declared Tesla's auto-driving feature illegal. According to news outlet Quartz, Tesla did not go through the city's regulatory process.
Despite some of the recent setbacks, Money Morning Technical Trading Specialist D.R. Barton is very bullish on TSLA stock long term.
And today's news is just the latest bullish catalyst for Tesla Motors stock...
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In October, Barton appeared on CCTV America to offer insight on the future of Tesla's electric car line.
He believes Tesla is "head and shoulders ahead in the electric car front." Tesla Motors has shown that dominance with its sales totals throughout 2015...
According to auto report site InsideEVs, Tesla has sold 22,100 units of its Model S this year. Nissan is a distant second with 15,922 sales for its LEAF. Combined sales for Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE: F) Ford Fusion and Ford C-Max are only 18,294.
The current sales are impressive, but some investors still worry about the high price tag for Tesla vehicles. After all, the Model S has an MSRP of $69,000.
But that will no longer be a major issue starting in 2017...
According to The Detroit News, Tesla's Model 3 will debut in January at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Model 3 will cost $35,000 and go into production by 2017. It will be able to travel up to 200 miles without needing a charge.
You see, electric vehicles are not a fad that is going away. By 2020, Pike Research projects that annual worldwide sales of plug-in electric vehicles will reach 3.8 million.
Because Tesla is still building its foothold in the automobile industry, Tesla Motors stock isn't for the short-term investor. But Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald believes Tesla Motors stock is great for the long term.
"I think Musk is the most innovative CEO on the planet and that he sees value others don't yet recognize," Fitz-Gerald stated. "Cars, batteries, innovative business models - nobody knows where it will go but ultimately if you're along for the ride, I think it'd be very hard to go wrong over time."
The Tesla Motors stock price has climbed 13% in the last month. For the year, the Tesla Motors stock price is up 2.67%. It opened today at $235.48.
Yahoo! Finance has a one-year price target of $286.47 for TSLA stock. That would be a gain of nearly 22% from today's opening price.
Jack Delaney is an associate editor for Money Morning. You can follow him on Twitter and follow Money Morning on Facebook.
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