Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Given "Buy" Rating at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating on Tesla with a $490 price target (implying ~29% upside), though Street sentiment is mixed — 18 Buys, 14 Holds and 9 Sells with a consensus target of $399.70 and an average rating of "Hold".
• Tesla’s Q1 results showed an adjusted EPS beat ($0.41 vs. $0.39) and 15.8% revenue growth to $22.39B but revenue missed estimates, and management warned of a hefty capex ramp to ~ $25B and likely negative cash flow for the rest of the year, triggering selling pressure.
• Insiders have been reducing positions — a director and the CFO recently sold shares and insiders sold 53,804 shares (~$20.9M) in the last 90 days — while TSLA trades around $378.80 with a $1.42 trillion market cap.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at TD Cowen in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $490.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer's stock. TD Cowen's price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.36% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on TSLA. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $508.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Phillip Securities dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $399.70.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA stock traded down $8.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $378.80. 57,869,187 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 63,152,492. Tesla has a 52-week low of $249.20 and a 52-week high of $498.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 351.64, a PEG ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock's 50-day moving average is $387.63 and its 200 day moving average is $421.62.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Tesla had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $22.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 25,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.33, for a total transaction of $9,273,947.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,860 shares in the company, valued at $12,166,913.80. This trade represents a 43.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.03, for a total transaction of $898,875.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,188,625.18. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,804 shares of company stock valued at $20,865,598. 19.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 6,558 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 855 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 1,070 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,577 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Tesla

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat and surprise cash flow — Tesla reported adjusted EPS above consensus and delivered positive free cash flow for Q1, which initially supported the shares after the print. Earnings Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Software & services strength — Full‑Self‑Driving (supervised) subscriptions and robotaxi miles showed noticeable growth, underscoring Tesla’s shift toward higher-margin software/revenue streams. Robotaxi & FSD Update
• Positive Sentiment: Operational wins in Europe — Tesla plans to add ~1,000 jobs in Germany to raise Model Y output, supporting regional production and delivery momentum. Germany Jobs
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst takeaways — Wall Street reactions are split: some see the higher capex as necessary for the AI/robotics pivot, others call it a valuation risk; expect continued analyst revisions. Analyst Reaction
• Neutral Sentiment: 10‑Q disclosure of a $2B AI/hardware deal — a one‑sentence acquisition disclosure raised questions because Tesla didn’t name the target or describe the tech; strategic but unclear near‑term impact. AI Acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex ramp and negative cash‑flow guidance — management raised 2026 capital spending toward ~$25B+, warning cash flow will likely turn negative for the rest of the year; that higher bill is the main driver of the selloff. CapEx Plan
• Negative Sentiment: More cautious self‑driving roadmap — Elon Musk said many existing cars (HW3) won’t achieve unsupervised FSD without hardware upgrades, and timelines for Optimus/robotaxi revenue were softened; that revises a key part of Tesla’s long‑dated upside case. FSD/Hardware Comments
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue/delivery softness — Q1 revenue missed some estimates and deliveries came in under some forecasts, feeding concerns about near‑term demand as EV incentives fade in key markets. Revenue & Demand
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target moves and sentiment stress — several firms trimmed targets or reiterated neutral/hold views after the call, amplifying selling pressure. Analyst PT Changes

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.

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