Tesla Austin plant will be 'hearts and lungs of future US EV production:' Wedbush
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk held a "Cyber Rodeo" party at its new Austin Giga factory in Travis County, Texas, a plant that Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes will become the "hearts and lungs of future U.S. EV production."
In a note to clients, Ives, who rates Tesla (TSLA) outperform with a $1,400 price target, wrote that the new plant "will change the EV production game" for Tesla as it becomes the preeminent plant for the company, becoming the "core of Tesla's operations" away from its Fremont, California plant.
The new Austin plant, which will employ up to 10,000 people, will build the Cybertruck, which has been delayed until next year, the Tesla Semi, Model 3 and Model Y. 
Ives added that the plant will look to build 500,000 units of the Model Y per year.
Tesla (TSLA) shares rose slightly less than 0.5% to $1,061.60 in premarket trading on Friday.
In addition, Ives explained that Tesla (TSLA) is right now experiencing a case of demand outstripping supply, which is leading to a delay for Model Ys and Model 3s around the globe by as much as six months.
"The key to alleviating these issues is centered around the key Giga openings in Austin and Berlin which will alleviate the bottlenecks of production for Tesla globally," Ives wrote. 
Tesla (TSLA) is boosting production globally, though the COVID-19 outbreak in China is hurting its Shanghai production. However, its plant in Berlin, Germany is now live, which Ives said will help the company "flex its distribution muscles in the EV landscape" as other automakers struggle to get off the ground. 
"In a nutshell, last night was an important achievement for Tesla with Austin the 'hearts and lungs of future US EV production' along with Fremont the key 1-2 punch that casts a shadow over other EV players in this arms race," Ives wrote.
On Thursday, Tesla (TSLA) announced that it has raised the price of the Model 3 Long Range and Performance variants.