What happened

Shares of Tesla (TSLA -8.78%) are continuing their parabolic rise today, making the electric-vehicle (EV) producer more valuable than Facebook and further fortifying CEO Elon Musk's newly held position as the world's richest person. This adds to the stock's incredible year-to-date momentum. Including a 7.4% gain as of 11 a.m. EST on Friday, shares are now up 25% already in 2021.

The stock's gain comes as Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally upgraded his rating for it and admitted the research firm has "been on the considerably wrong side of TSLA for over a year now." 

Tesla vehicles.

Image source: Tesla.

So what

McNally set a $650 12-month price target for the stock and upgraded his rating on shares to "in line," which is like a hold rating. This is up from a previous target of $225 and a sell-equivalent underperform rating.

The analyst believes the company is viewed as a tech company, leading in the nascent EV space and boasting optionality in other areas like self-driving technology, battery storage, and electric motors.

Now what

Though Tesla recently reported record fourth-quarter deliveries, there's still uncertainty about the company's financial performance during this important period. Investors can get an update on Tesla's business when the company reports its fourth-quarter earnings, which will likely be around the end of January.