Tesla Surges to Top Trading Volume as Morgan Stanley Upgrade and FSD Advances Signal Institutional Confidence

On August 8, 2025, Tesla (TSLA) rose 2.29% to $330.92, with a trading volume of $30.12 billion, the highest in the market. The stock’s performance was driven by a Morgan Stanley upgrade to 'overweight' and a $410 price target, reflecting renewed institutional confidence. CEO Elon Musk also announced advancements in the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, potentially launching by September, which underscored technical progress as a catalyst for investor optimism.

Recent developments include the approval of a $30 billion equity-based compensation package for Musk, designed to secure his leadership and align with long-term shareholder interests. This followed prior concerns about Musk’s potential focus on non-Tesla ventures. Meanwhile, Tesla’s decision to disband its Dojo supercomputer team shifted strategic priorities toward inference chips for real-time AI applications, signaling a pivot in resource allocation amid evolving market demands.

A backtested strategy of purchasing top 500 high-volume stocks and holding for one day generated a 166.71% return from 2022 to 2025, outperforming the benchmark by 137.53%. The results highlight liquidity concentration’s role in short-term performance, particularly in volatile sectors like EVs, where high-volume stocks exhibit amplified momentum due to active trading and macroeconomic responsiveness.