Tesla shares close higher on Tuesday, company reportedly building mega battery to plug into the Texas grid

According to a report by Bloomberg News earlier this week, Tesla Inc (TSLA) intends to build a mega battery that could power about 20,000 households during the peak summer season and which will be connected to the Texas grid.

Gambit Energy Storage LLC, which is registered as a subsidiary of Tesla Inc, has embarked on a more than 100-megawatt energy storage project in Angleton, Texas.

The battery-storage system, which Tesla’s unit is constructing, is registered with Ercot, while the project has a proposed commercial operation date of June 1st.

The news comes days after a severe winter storm in mid-February temporarily knocked out almost 50% of generating plants in Texas, which led to outages and an increase in energy prices by up to 10 times the normal rate.

Tesla shares closed higher for the third time in the past ten trading sessions on NASDAQ on Tuesday. It has also been the sharpest single-session gain since February 3rd 2020. The stock went up 19.64% ($110.58) to $673.58, after touching an intraday high at $678.00, or a price level not seen since March 3rd ($700.45).

Shares of Tesla Inc have retreated 4.55% so far in 2021 compared with a 3.18% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2020, Tesla Inc’s stock went up 743.40%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 30 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Tesla Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $727.50, with a high estimate of $1,200.00 and a low estimate of $67.00. The median estimate represents an 8.00% upside compared to the closing price of $673.58 on March 9th.

The same media also reported that at least 14 out of 34 surveyed investment analysts had rated Tesla Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 9 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 7 analysts had recommended selling the stock.