Analysts at Wedbush on Thursday started coverage of Tesla Inc. TSLA, -0.06% stock at their equivalent of buy, saying the Silicon Valley car maker "has the most impressive product roadmap out of any technology/auto vendor around." The analysts, led by Dan Ives, have a $440 price target on the shares, representing a 16% upside over Thursday's closing price. Tesla will be a "game changing" driving force for the electric-vehicle transformation over the next decade, the analysts said. Despite potential challenges ahead, including Model 3 production ramp and lingering concerns from regulatory overhang, "overall seeing the forest through the trees we believe Tesla has the most innovative product roadmap in the technology space over the next 5 to 10 years," the Wedbush analysts said. Tesla has a "golden opportunity" to ramp Model 3 sales in 2019 and beyond and translate that into massive free cash flow and profitability, they said. Tesla shares were down 0.8% in premarket trade Friday, but are up 21% in 2018, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.04% has fallen 0.9%.