Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Barclays

24 Apr 2026, 15:38 by Kim Johansen · The Markets Daily

Barclays reissued their neutral rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities reduced 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. President Capital reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $500.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $438.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $398.45.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on TSLA

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $372.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,806,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,961,297. Tesla has a 1 year low of $259.63 and a 1 year high of $498.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 342.85, a PEG ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 1.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $386.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $421.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $22.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.96 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,106 shares in the company, valued at $7,188,625.18. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 25,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.33, for a total transaction of $9,273,947.97. Following the sale, the director owned 33,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,166,913.80. This trade represents a 43.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,804 shares of company stock worth $20,865,598. 19.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth $17,128,100,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Tesla by 3,205.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,459,599 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $9,650,811,000 after purchasing an additional 20,810,386 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Tesla by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,755,605 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $9,334,211,000 after purchasing an additional 7,450,766 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,367,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 2.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,538,720 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Tesla

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on EPS and surprise positive free cash flow gives near-term support to TSLA; investors point to profitability resilience despite softer vehicle demand. Tesla reports surprise positive free cash flow
Positive Sentiment: Elon Musk says Tesla has begun pilot production of Cybercab robotaxis and shared video of an occupant-less vehicle — a tangible milestone for the autonomy/robotaxi narrative that supports longer-term upside. Elon Musk says Tesla has started producing cybecabs
Positive Sentiment: Tesla’s share in California new‑car registrations jumped to ~56% in Q1 — a sign the company still holds market strength in its largest U.S. EV market. Tesla’s California market share soars to 56% in Q1 2026
Positive Sentiment: Intel/Tesla Terafab disclosure (plans to use Intel’s 14A process) reduces some chip‑supply uncertainty for Tesla’s in‑house AI chip ambitions and helped chip partners rally. Elon Musk lays out Terafab AI chip project plan
Neutral Sentiment: Next‑gen A15 AI chip tape‑out clears a technical milestone for Tesla’s compute roadmap, but manufacturing and scale remain the bigger near‑term questions. This Is What Tesla Inc. (TSLA) A15 Chip Tape-out Means
Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are split: some firms (TD Cowen, Cantor, Canaccord) reiterated/upgraded ratings and raised targets, while others stuck to neutral or trimmed targets — providing both support and friction in the stock. Benzinga coverage of analyst moves
Negative Sentiment: Tesla warned it will spend more than $25 billion this year on AI, chips and robotics — investors fear a sharp capex ramp will push cash flow negative for 2026 and compress near‑term returns. That announcement has been the primary sell catalyst since the earnings call. Tesla’s $25 billion spending plan tests investor faith
Negative Sentiment: Musk acknowledged older HW3 vehicles won’t achieve unsupervised FSD without upgrades — a costly retrofit promise for owners and a reputational/headline risk for Tesla. Elon Musk admits millions of Tesla owners need upgrades for true ‘Full Self-Driving’
Negative Sentiment: Timelines for robotaxi / Optimus commercialization were softened or removed in the Q1 filing and call; analysts warned rollout is slower than hoped — increasing execution risk versus the premium valuation. Musk sounds cautious tone on robotaxis amid slower-than-expected rollout
Negative Sentiment: A brief, vague SEC‑filed ~ $2B AI/hardware acquisition disclosure (no company named) added uncertainty about what Tesla bought and its near‑term impact on financials. Tesla slips one-sentence disclosure of a mysterious $2 billion AI hardware acquisition

About Tesla

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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.