Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price fell 3.5% during trading on Thursday after President Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $517.00 to $500.00. President Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $414.62 and last traded at $416.56. 77,209,762 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 62,511,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.46.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on TSLA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Tesla from $341.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. China Renaissance boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $349.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $520.00 price objective on Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total value of $1,170,643.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.40, for a total transaction of $26,724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 577,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $257,009,607.40. This trade represents a 9.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 119,457 shares of company stock worth $53,501,145 over the last 90 days. 19.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Networth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Davidson Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.4% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 61 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Up 3.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 398.53, a PEG ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $447.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $407.49.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. Tesla had a return on equity of 4.86% and a net margin of 4.00%.The firm 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 business posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Tesla

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.