Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• Tesla shares gapped up from a previous close of $395.94 to an opening price of $423.13, trading at $419.18 with a volume of approximately 36.9 million shares.
• Analysts remain divided on Tesla's stock, with one Strong Buy, seventeen Buy, fourteen Hold, and nine Sell ratings, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings miss with $0.40 EPS against estimates of $0.43, and a revenue of $22.50 billion compared to anticipated $23.18 billion, noting an 11.8% decline year-over-year.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $395.94, but opened at $423.13. Tesla shares last traded at $419.18, with a volume of 36,911,437 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TSLA. Glj Research restated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.00.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $328.89 and a 200-day moving average of $303.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 242.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 697,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.89, for a total value of $1,171,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,080.36. This trade represents a 40.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,606 shares of company stock valued at $51,999,662 in the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 86.3% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services.

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