Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 2.9% – Here’s Why
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemTesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 2.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $394.04 and last traded at $399.83. Approximately 69,133,147 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 62,113,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $411.82.
Key Stories Impacting Tesla
Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Model Y six‑seater approval in Australia adds a family‑market product option and fuels hopes for broader market rollout, which could support unit demand if expanded to other regions. Model Y six-seater approval
- Positive Sentiment: Tesla cut prices on the Cybertruck (and introduced a lower‑cost variant), which can boost deliveries and clear order backlogs — constructive for revenue/volume but potentially margin‑dilutive. Cybertruck price cuts
- Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised earnings estimates for Tesla, reflecting some analyst confidence in near‑term fundamentals. Upward estimate revisions can be a near‑term support for shares. Erste Group increases estimates
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains highly mixed — price targets and ratings show wide dispersion, leaving sentiment fragile and making TSLA sensitive to headlines. Mixed analyst sentiment
- Neutral Sentiment: Tesla dropped the “Autopilot” marketing term and avoided a 30‑day California manufacturing/sales license suspension — a regulatory win that reduces immediate operational risk but doesn’t resolve safety/claims issues. Dropped ‘Autopilot’ term
- Negative Sentiment: Tesla is suing the California DMV to overturn a ruling that it engaged in false advertising over FSD — escalates legal and reputational risk and keeps regulatory scrutiny in focus. Tesla sues California DMV
- Negative Sentiment: Ongoing FSD data issues, recent robotaxi collisions and investor commentary (including calls for hardware changes) are increasing concerns about safety, rollout timing and the company’s autonomous roadmap — a material risk to the valuation narrative that prices in FSD returns. FSD data issues
- Negative Sentiment: EV demand weakness (U.S. EV sales plunged y/y; Tesla selling prices fell) and external threats like tariff talk are pressuring top‑line growth and margins — the “volume vs. price” dynamic is a near‑term headwind. EV sales crater
- Negative Sentiment: Legal payouts and liability remain active — a judge recently ruled Tesla still owes $243M in a fatal Autopilot crash case, adding to potential cash and reputational costs. $243M Autopilot ruling
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Tigress Financial started coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Tesla from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $408.09.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on TSLA
Tesla Trading Down 2.9%
The company has a fifty day moving average of $440.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 370.21, a P/E/G ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.86.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 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 company had revenue of $24.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Tesla’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla
In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.40, for a total transaction of $26,724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 577,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $257,009,607.40. The trade was a 9.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total value of $1,170,643.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,107,145.01. This trade represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,457 shares of company stock valued at $53,501,145. 19.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,128,100,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 3,205.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,459,599 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,650,811,000 after buying an additional 20,810,386 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Tesla by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,755,605 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,334,211,000 after buying an additional 7,450,766 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 882.8% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,202,060 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,688,630,000 after buying an additional 7,367,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $116,443,762,000 after buying an additional 6,538,720 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.
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.