Tesla stock gets a price target boost ahead of earnings, as Mizuho analyst is upbeat on deliveries outlook

Tesla stock gets a price target boost ahead of earnings, as Mizuho analyst is upbeat on deliveries outlook

Tesla Inc. got some bullish support from Mizuho Securities analyst Vijay Rakesh ahead of the electric vehicle maker's first-quarter earnings report next week, as he believes full-year deliveries guidance is set up to be raised.

Rakesh reiterated his buy rating but raised his stock price target to $820, which implies a 15% gain off Monday's closing price, from $775.

The stock

TSLA, +2.09%

rose 0.5% in premarket trading Tuesday. On Monday, the stock fell 3.4% after reports over the weekend about a fatal crash of a Tesla vehicle, with no on driving it.

In a tweet late Monday, Chief Executive Elon Musk disputed those reports, saying data logs recovered showed that Autopilot was not enabled.

Rakesh did not comment on the crash in his research note to clients on Tuesday, as he focused on Tesla's earnings report.

His upbeat outlook on Tesla's deliveries comes after the company reported earlier this month first-quarter deliveries that more than doubled to 184,800 vehicles, from 88,400 vehicles a year ago, amid strong growth in Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Read more about 'paradigm changer' delivery data.

"With a strong start to this year, we see