'It's Tesla's world and everyone else is paying rent,' says Wedbush analyst who sees further upside for its shares

• "It's Tesla's world and everyone else is paying rent" in the EV market, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives told CNBC on Thursday.
• Tesla is readying a "million-mile" battery that could greatly reduce the cost of EVs, and is scheduled to be announced at the upcoming September 22 "Battery Day" event.
• Investor focus on the EV-maker's new battery and strong demand from China mean that the company's shares have a "lot more room to go," Ives said.
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In the electric-vehicle market, "it's Tesla's world and everyone else is paying rent," Daniel Ives, senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, told CNBC on Thursday.

Although Tesla stock was down about 7% early Thursday on Wall Street, its shares are up by nearly 450% so far this year, compared with a roughly 30% rise in the broader NASDAQ index.

The EV-maker's position of strength has gathered more retail investor momentum, and is the basis for Wedbush's bull case of $700 per share.

"This is a stock that still has a lot more room to go, even though the haters continue to hate as the stock moves higher," Ives said of Tesla's shares.

The company is readying a "million-mile" battery that could greatly reduce the cost of EVs, and is scheduled to be announced at its upcoming September 22 "Battery Day" event.

The combination of a million-mile battery, a focus on price-parity relative to traditional automobiles and third-party battery suppliers, and strong demand from China would help push its stock higher, Ives said.

Despite potential "speed bumps" and increased competition in the future, Tesla's dominance of the EV market would not be a significant risk in the coming quarters, he said.

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"Everyone's going after Tesla in terms of the EV market," he said, while adding the company has a "target on their back."

On its inaugural day of post-split-trading, Tesla became the seventh-largest US company based on market capitalization.

"We believe the stock split decision was a smart move by Tesla and its board, given the parabolic move in shares over the past six months," Ives said in a note.

Separately on Wednesday, Bank of America boosted its Tesla price target to $550 from $350, marking a roughly 16% increase from Monday's close.

The firm said Tesla's shares could surge even higher in the next 12 months after its proposed $5 billion equity offering.

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