Analyst Upgrades: Tesla Motors Inc, SolarCity Corp, and Monster Beverage Corporation

Analysts are weighing in today on Elon Musk's Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY), as well as energy drink marketer Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on TSLA, SCTY, and MNST.

• Earlier today, TSLA CEO Elon Musk said Germany is the second most important market for electric cars, behind only the U.S., while German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel called for incentives on clean-fuel vehicles. Elsewhere, Jefferies boosted its price target on the stock to $365 from $360, representing expected upside of 40% to last night's close at $261.06 -- as well as record-high territory. One recent group of call writers isn't buying this optimism, nor are short sellers. In fact, over one-quarter of Tesla Motors Inc's float is sold short -- an amount that would take more than four days to repurchase, at typical volumes. On the charts, TSLA has been a beast, advancing 17.4% year-to-date, and recently finding a layer of support atop its 20-week moving average. In pre-market trading, however, the security is pointed 0.5% lower.


• Despite dropping 7.7% yesterday amid energy's struggles, SCTY was started with a "buy" rating and $64 price target at Stifel. This is an ambitious outlook for a stock that's lost 18% year-to-date at $43.78 -- though the brokerage bunch has tended to take a glass-half-full approach toward SolarCity Corp. Ninety percent of analysts have designated the equity a "buy" or better -- with not a single "sell" to be found -- while its consensus 12-month price target of $77.33 hasn't been toppled in over a year. By contrast, traders at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) are bearish, buying to open more than three puts for every call during the past two weeks. Specifically, SCTY's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 3.28 ranks in the 94th annual percentile. The shares are pointed slightly lower in electronic trading. 


• MNST -- which has soared 24% year-to-date to trade at $134.36, and is consolidating atop its 200-day trendline -- saw its rating bumped to "buy" from "neutral" at Goldman Sachs. Not everyone's been so bullish toward the shares, despite their long-term outperformance. In fact, Monster Beverage Corporation's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.30 outranks 82% of comparable readings from the prior year. A capitulation among these bearish holdouts could add fuel to MNST's fire.

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