Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Falls 3.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Tesla shares fell 3.3% to $385.19, with trading volume about 5% below its daily average.
• Investors are weighing growth prospects such as the Fort Worth robotaxi expansion against concerns about spending, margin pressure, political scrutiny, and a South Korean consumer group’s allegations about Full Self-Driving claims.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $414.51. Recent quarterly EPS topped estimates, but revenue was slightly below expectations and declined 0.2% year over year.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares fell 3.3% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $375.50 and last traded at $385.19. 47,407,381 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 50,117,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $398.50.

Trending Headlines about Tesla

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tesla’s robotaxi service has expanded to Fort Worth, adding to its growing autonomy footprint. However, the service is still small and has not yet demonstrated meaningful profitability. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Tesla’s plan to scale Optimus production points to a potential future growth business, but the supplied report mainly highlights a possible revenue boost for chip supplier Texas Instruments—not established revenue for Tesla. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Democrats’ midterm victories have raised investor concerns about tougher scrutiny of Musk-related projects, including data-center expansion and AI, as well as added uncertainty around a possible Tesla–SpaceX merger. Musk had heavily backed Republican candidates. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: A South Korean consumer group alleges Tesla misled customers about its automated-driving technology, creating potential legal and reputational risk around Full Self-Driving. The allegation is not a finding of wrongdoing. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focused on rising spending and margin pressure. That concern may weigh more heavily because Tesla’s valuation depends on substantial future profits from autonomy and other emerging businesses, which have yet to scale. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Glj Research reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 26th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $442.00 target price on Tesla and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $414.51.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $371.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 423.29, a P/E/G ratio of 25.01 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $28.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.06 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 3.03% and a net margin of 3.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.13, for a total transaction of $938,498.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,353,296.36. This represents a 9.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 20.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 12,524,752 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $5,267,911,000 after purchasing an additional 591,243 shares in the last quarter. One Plus One Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,009,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 23.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 56,240 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $20,908,000 after purchasing an additional 10,747 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the first quarter worth approximately $1,267,259,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Tesla by 12.4% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 43,600 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $15,470,000 after buying an additional 4,806 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc is an electric vehicle and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003, the company designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, including the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y and Cybertruck. Tesla also develops vehicle software, driver-assistance features and related services intended to support the operation and ownership of its vehicles.

Beyond automobiles, Tesla produces energy storage products for residential, commercial and utility-scale applications, including the Powerwall and Megapack.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.