Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

TSLA has been the topic of a number of other reports. President Capital cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $529.00 to $517.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. CICC Research increased their price objective on Tesla from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho set a $540.00 price objective on Tesla and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $505.00 target price on Tesla and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.58.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $430.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 398.53, a PEG ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.83. Tesla has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $498.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $447.69 and its 200-day moving average is $407.49.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.05. Tesla had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $24.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total transaction of $1,170,643.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 56,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.66, for a total value of $25,606,501.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,391,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,145,215.90. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,457 shares of company stock valued at $53,501,145. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Narwhal Capital Management grew its position in shares of Tesla by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 9,516 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Tesla during the second quarter worth about $11,839,824,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in Tesla by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 427,150 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $135,688,000 after buying an additional 22,607 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1,823.0% in the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 68,325 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $21,704,000 after purchasing an additional 64,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 16,565 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $7,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Tesla News

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SpaceX merger talk fuels optimism that Elon Musk could further consolidate his tech assets, a scenario investors view as value-accretive for Tesla (merger talk helped push TSLA higher). Tesla jumps as SpaceX merger talks fuel Musk empire consolidation hopes (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beats and clear robotaxi/FSD progress: Tesla topped EPS and revenue estimates, disclosed 1.1M active FSD subs and reiterated Cybercab/robotaxi production targets — evidence that software and services can offset weaker vehicle volume. Could Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Fuel the Next Rally? (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Investment in xAI and AI positioning: Tesla disclosed a multi‑billion involvement with Musk’s xAI and is pushing chip/TeraFab plans — reinforcing the market view of Tesla as a “physical AI” play rather than a pure auto OEM. Tesla reveals $2 billion investment in Elon Musk’s xAI (Fortune)
• Neutral Sentiment: Model S/X discontinuation and factory retooling — strategic for long‑term robotics capacity but implies short-term restructuring and transition risk; impact depends on execution and timing. Tesla Kills Legacy Models: Analyst Response Is Meh (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions and target churn — some firms raised targets on the AI/robotics story while others trimmed them, leaving consensus sentiment split and volatility likely to persist.
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex and cash‑burn risk: management guided to >$20B capex to reshuffle factories for robots, Cybercab and batteries — a heavy near‑term cash demand that could pressure margins and free cash flow. Tesla plans $20 billion capital spending spree (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: First annual revenue decline and softer vehicle deliveries raise near‑term execution concerns — investors worry Optimus/robotaxi revenue is far out and that margins could be pressured during the transition.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable bearish analyst moves (e.g., JPMorgan cut to underweight with a $145 target) increase downside headline risk and may cap rallies until clarity on capex pacing and robot/robotaxi ramps arrives.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean‑energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery‑electric vehicles and related services.