NYU's Damodaran Bullish on Tesla (TSLA) Stock Despite Controversy, CNBC Discusses

Amid car crashes and acquisition doubts, NYU Dean of Valuation Aswath Damodaran said Tesla (TSLA) is the 'ultimate story stock,' CNBC's Scott Wapner reported today.
By Lindsay Rittenhouse ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Despite controversy continuing to swarm Tesla Motors (TSLA) - Get ReportNYU Dean of Valuation Aswath Damodaran called the electric automaker the "ultimate story stock," CNBC's Scott Wapner reported on "Fast Money: Halftime Report" Monday.

Damodaran estimated that shares of Tesla can rise to $250 each.

"Despite all of the recent bad news, including that fatal crash while the car was in pilot mode, the stock still outperformed the NASDAQ 100 over the last two weeks," Damodaran argued, according to Wapner.

This bullish take came after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted today that he is working on a "top secret master" plan for the company, scheduled to be rolled out by the end of the week.

The "top secret plan" is in response to the government's investigation into two car crashes, the one in Florida fatal, involving Tesla's autopilot function and as questions continue to surround the company's $2.8 billion bid to acquire solar panel company SolarCity (SCTY).

"I think Mr. Musk is playing with fire here, but people have given him a pass and the people who have been right are the people long that stock," CNBC contributor Jon Najarian commented.

Shares of Tesla are spiking by 4.31% to $226.12 this afternoon.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated Tesla as a "sell" with a score of D+.

This is driven by multiple weaknesses, which can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: TSLA

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

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