In contrast to most other recent Wall Street analyst notes, RBC Capital’s Tom Narayan upgraded his outlook for Elon Musk’s electric vehicle (EV) company, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), on July 7.
Specifically, the institutional expert assigned a ‘Buy’ rating for TSLA stock while increasing his 12-month price prediction from $475 to $500.
Notably, while the analyst estimated that the ‘Robotaxi’ represents a robust opportunity with a $4.2 trillion total addressable market, it would appear much of the lift can be attributed to a potential SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) acquisition scenario.
Elon Musk has been implementing something of a company rollup as part of which his artificial intelligence (AI) company, xAI, acquired his social media firm, X, before itself getting bought by SpaceX ahead of the record-breaking initial public offering (IPO).
The process, started in earnest early in 2025, led some observers to speculate that the trillionaire’s biggest two companies could soon merge as well.
RBC Capital offers rare July bullish outlook for Tesla stock
Elsewhere, RBC Capital’s note appears to have followed a different approach from most other Wall Street analysts. Out of the five notable revisions provided in July, four – all except for Narayan’s – positioned Tesla stock as a ‘Hold.’
Among them, Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) Andrew Percoco was the most bearish, having forecasted TSLA shares would stand at $415 in 12 months on July 6, while JPMorgan’s (NYSE: JPM) Rajat Gupta was the most optimistic of the ‘Neutral’ experts with a $475 forecast on July 7.
The overall souring of the mood can arguably be attributed to an overall decline in Tesla’s core car business, shifting goalposts for the ‘Robotaxi,’ and the overall downward stock market performance of the EV maker in 2026.
Specifically, TSLA shares are, at their latest closing price of $402.90, 8.03% down year-to-date (YTD).
Analysts set Tesla stock price target for the next 12 months
Lastly, the overall July balance of ratings is largely in line with the wider Wall Street attitude toward Elon Musk’s car company. Tesla is generally considered a ‘Hold’ by institutional analysts, with 15 out of the 28 experts who voiced their opinions in the last three months seeing it as such.
Additionally, TSLA stock is, on average, expected to retrace 0.79% to $399.71 in the next 12 months, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on July 8, 2026.
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