Tesla Price Target Nearly Tripled At B. Of A. Merrill Lynch

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, long-time bears on Tesla Motors Inc. , raised their price target on the stock to $180 from $65, saying Tesla is "an important catalyst" for the car and electric-car industries. Its shares remain overvalued, however, which is reason to keep their rating unchanged at underperform, the analysts said. Shares of Tesla rose 2.7% on Thursday, trading at their highest in 10 months. The stock is up 45% in the past three months, compared with gains of 0.6% for the S&P 500 Index in the same period. Earlier Thursday, Tesla said it delivered a record 11,507 Model S cars in the second quarter, up 52% from the year-ago period. The number was well above the company's estimate of 10,000 to 11,000 units.