'A smart move': Here's what 4 Wall Street analysts are saying about Tesla's $2 billion common stock offering

Price target: $650

Rating: Neutral

"We think the offering was a prudent decision given current share prices, and puts the company in a strong financial position to further invest in growth," wrote Baird analyst Ben Kallo in a note Thursday, adding that "in fact we think investors will argue the offering should have been larger."

He continued: "That said, we do note management indicated on the Q4 call that it 'doesn't make sense' to raise money given upcoming cash generation, so the announcement was somewhat surprising."

"Importantly, we think the offering provides an opportunity for sell-side analysts to upgrade from sell ratings, potentially serving as a positive catalyst."

Price target/ fair value: $326

Rating: N/A, very high uncertainty

"We have long wanted Tesla to raise a large amount of cash via stock issuance due to its lofty valuation and then perhaps never need to raise capital again. We'd prefer that to annual capital raises as the company has done via convertible debt or equity," analyst David Whiston wrote in a Thursday note.

He continued: "We'd like to see more consistency between the company's actions and the words of CEO Elon Musk. This is at least the second time Musk has said on an earnings call that raising capital is not happening and then shortly thereafter Tesla raises capital."

"Musk also said Tesla had no acquisition targets so it is possible that has abruptly changed, but we think he wants to capitalize on the stock's recent upward explosion and we can't blame him. We'd just rather Tesla raise at least $5 billion so as to perhaps never raise capital again."

Price target: $440

Rating: Sell

"We are not surprised by the capital raise considering co.'s ambitious growth plans, including a new factory in Germany and possible factory in Texas, in light of the stock's run-up and the fact it issued equity last May at $243/share," CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson wrote in a Thursday note.

He continued: "We will update our estimates for the EPS dilution post-closing, but continue to view the stock's current risk/reward as unfavorable."