Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives "Neutral" Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs reissued a "Neutral" rating on Tesla, while analyst consensus is an overall Hold with a $396.29 average price target (18 Buys, 14 Holds, 9 Sells).
• Tesla's Q1 results showed an EPS beat ($0.41 vs. $0.39) but revenue of $22.39B missed estimates, even as revenue rose 15.8% year‑over‑year and free cash flow was reported positive.
• Management guided a major capex jump to roughly $20–$25B+ for AI, chips and robotics and warned cash flow will turn negative for the rest of 2026, a move that spooked investors and pressured the stock.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $548.00 to $538.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $313.00 to $280.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $396.29.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA stock opened at $374.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 346.30, a P/E/G ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 1.91. Tesla has a 12 month low of $249.20 and a 12 month high of $498.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $387.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Insider Activity at Tesla

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

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,925,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $116,443,762,000 after acquiring an additional 6,538,720 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 114,842,934 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $51,647,164,000 after buying an additional 1,080,085 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 65,700,975 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $29,426,070,000 after buying an additional 375,946 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,035,949 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $19,583,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at $17,128,100,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 profit beat and cash surprise — Adjusted EPS beat estimates ($0.41) and Tesla reported positive free cash flow for the quarter, giving near‑term earnings credibility. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Software & services traction — Full Self‑Driving (supervised) subscriptions and “services & other” revenue showed meaningful growth, supporting higher‑margin recurring revenue potential. TechCrunch: FSD subscription growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Robotaxi & Optimus progress — Tesla expanded robotaxi service and reiterated Optimus timelines (v3 unveiling mid‑summer). These are long‑dated optionality items that can justify valuation but remain uncertain in near term. Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Stable crypto position — Tesla retained ~ $895M in Bitcoin on its balance sheet, limiting a forced-sale risk but leaving exposure to crypto mark‑to‑market swings. Yahoo: Bitcoin holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex raise ($20–25B+) — Musk told investors 2026 capex will jump into the $20B+–$25B range for AI, chips, Terafab and robotics; management expects cash flow to turn negative for the rest of 2026. That guidance spooked investors and is the primary reason shares reversed gains. Reuters: $25B spending plan
• Negative Sentiment: Hardware & upgrade disclosures — Management acknowledged cars with HW3 won’t support fully unsupervised FSD without upgrades, implying additional costs and slower monetization of autonomy for existing owners. Benzinga: HW3 limitation
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue vs. deliveries mix and inventory — Q1 revenue slightly missed some estimates and deliveries lagged expectations, leaving concerns about demand momentum and inventory build‑up. Reuters: revenue miss

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.

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