Oppenheimer Hits Tesla With Buy, Likes 'Transformative' Battery Potential

• Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares are down 11 percent in the past year, although they have gained 12 percent year-to-date.
• Oppenheimer’s Colin Rusch initiated coverage of the company with an Outperform rating and a price target of $340.
• Saying that Tesla is a transformative battery-powered product company, Rusch added that bulls are concerned more about whether the company can get the products right, rather than on time.

Analyst Colin Rusch said that Tesla is a “transformative battery-powered product company with leading expertise in cell design, packaging, associated software, human-machine and machine-machine interaction design.”

Although Tesla’s automobile and stationary power products are “readily definable within a well-documented market,” the potential business models derived from those products are significantly more challenging “for investors to wrap their heads around,” Rusch wrote.

The analyst mentioned that the bullish investors are focusing on whether Tesla can get products right, rather than on time, while adding, “[W]e expect high-quality products to carry the stock forward.”

Tesla announced that the shipments for Tesla Energy products would commence in 4Q15. “With the Model X launch firmly scheduled, TSLA Energy shipments set to begin in 4Q:15, a successful soft launch of its autonomous driving software, and lower guidance for 2015, we believe investors will look at the reception of Model X's highly anticipated "secret" features as the next catalyst,” Rusch added.