The Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) share price has been back in the headlines over the past few months in a big way. And you don't have to look too far to see why.
As it currently stands, Tesla shares have risen from around US$108 at the start of the year to the US $255.71 we are presently seeing. That's a 2023 gain of 137%.
However, some investors think Tesla stock is only just getting started. And that includes the electric vehicle and battery manufacturer's eccentric CEO, Elon Musk. As our Fool colleagues over in the US have recently covered, Musk has gone on the record to state that he thinks Tesla could be worth five or even ten times what it is today in the future.
So is this something we should be taking seriously today, given it would result in Tesla having a market capitalisation of more than US$8 trillion? Or is this simply more of the trademark bluster and braggadocio Musk has become known for?
Well, one US analyst thinks Musk might actually be onto something.
Analyst: Tesla share price is the next Apple
As our Fool US colleagues covered last week, Wedbush's Dan Inves was delighted by what he saw in Tesla's most recent earnings report. That was despite the negative reaction from Wall Street.
Ives "praised Tesla for sacrificing profits in the short term" and gave the company a 12-month share price target of US$350 a share. That alone would see Tesla shares gain another 32% or so from their current level.
But Ives went further, comparing Tesla to Apple 15 years ago:
We view Tesla where Apple… was in the 2008/2009 period, as [the company] was just starting to monetise its services… Tesla is playing chess while other automakers are playing checkers.
He went on to say that Tesla prioritising volume over margins today "will make Tesla more profitable as it monetises its full self-driving (FSD) technology in the future".
Those who are fixated on the auto stock's wild share price over the past few years might have missed some of Tesla's fundamental growth. Remember, this is a company that was delivering half a million vehicles a year in 2020 and now delivers that volume every quarter.
It's hard to predict whether a company truly has a 10-bagger potential. Especially one as large as Tesla. But the company is certainly making incredible strides with its business model.
If Tesla shares can continue to deliver breakneck growth rates in vehicle and battery production, as well as build out additional recurring revenue streams from services like self-driving technology, then perhaps the company can indeed pull off another ten-bagger run. But we'll have to wait and see.
