Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $439.00 to $438.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 1.76% from the company’s current price.

TSLA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $510.00 target price on Tesla and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.58.

Tesla Stock Up 3.3%

Tesla 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. Tesla has a fifty-two week low of $214.25 and a fifty-two week high of $498.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $447.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $407.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 398.53, a PEG ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.83.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $24.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.40, for a total value of $26,724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 577,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,009,607.40. This trade represents a 9.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $6,107,145.01. The trade was a 16.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 119,457 shares of company stock valued at $53,501,145 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,925,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $116,443,762,000 after buying an additional 6,538,720 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 113,762,849 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $50,592,614,000 after acquiring an additional 344,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,767,993 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $20,480,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Tesla by 5.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,035,949 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $19,583,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,839,824,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla News Summary

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.