Tesla Stock: A Strategy for Managing Your Position

On the Sept. 14, 2026, episode of The Morning Filter podcast, hosts Susan Dziubinski and Morningstar Chief US Market Strategist Dave Sekera discuss why Tesla TSLA is a stock pick today. Here is an excerpt from the show.

Why Tesla Is a Stock to Buy Today

Susan Dziubinski: And then your last mega-cap stock pick this week is Tesla. Tesla was actually one of your very first stock picks from our first episode of The Morning Filter back in January of 2023. So, what stands out here?

David Sekera: Well, first of all, I have to note this one actually just dropped into, or I guess it rose into, 3-star territory from 4-star territory. Currently trades at a 19% discount, no dividend yield. And we, of course, rate this one at a Very High Uncertainty because a lot of the business lines, while we do have our base-case estimates, are business lines that you have to expect very high growth rates on products that may not necessarily even be, while they’re under development, not necessarily being sold yet. We rate this one with a narrow economic moat based on the cost advantage and intangible assets.

Should You Rent or Own TSLA?

Dziubinski: Now, we’ve talked in the past about stocks—you’ve talked about stocks to rent versus stocks to own. Given that Very High Uncertainty that you mentioned when it comes to Tesla, is Tesla really one of those stocks to rent?

Sekera: I think it can be both, and I think it’s really just going to depend on the individual preference of the investor and whether or not I call them a “true believer” in Elon Musk. From that point of view of whether or not this is a stock to rent, this is certainly one where it’s traded enough like a pendulum, where it’s shot way too far to the upside when you want to be taking profits, and then sells off too far to the downside, so then you can buy it after the selloff, waiting for that recovery, and then go ahead and sell it.

But I also think that this is one, if you want to have that long-term core holding, and as long as you keep some dry powder with that core holding, it’s one where you’ve certainly had multiple opportunities over multiple years to be able to dollar-cost average into the downside when it sells off too far and then be able to take profit to the upside and get back to that market weight after you’ve gone to overweight. I think this one is really going to be much more personal preference and going to be based on maybe your own view as far as what Elon may or may not be able to do in the future.

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