BNP Paribas Exane Upgrades Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to Neutral

22 Oct 2026, 14:36 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

TSLA has been the topic of several other reports. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $460.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $445.00 to $415.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $505.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $417.68.

View Our Latest Report on TSLA

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ TSLA traded up $1.31 on Thursday, reaching $387.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,597,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,422,969. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 357.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 23.73 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Tesla has a 52 week low of $297.38 and a 52 week high of $498.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $362.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $377.16.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $28.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.06 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 3.67% and a return on equity of 3.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.13, for a total transaction of $938,498.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,353,296.36. The trade was a 9.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.8% in the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,192 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,455,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. NBT Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 24,769 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $8,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497 shares during the last quarter. Carter Financial Group INC. increased its stake in Tesla by 17.1% during the third quarter. Carter Financial Group INC. now owns 6,343 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JSF Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 5.2% during the third quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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: Tesla reported adjusted EPS of $0.48, above the $0.45 consensus estimate, while revenue of approximately $28.05 billion was broadly in line with expectations. Free cash flow was about $1.5 billion, a significant improvement over expectations for a cash burn, and cash reserves reached roughly $45.4 billion. Tesla revenue beats estimates as deliveries rebound
Positive Sentiment: Full Self-Driving remains a major bull-case catalyst: management said subscriptions rose 67% year over year, with FSD attached to more than 75% of new North American deliveries. Tesla also said it has begun producing Optimus robots and plans to begin delivering some Cybercabs by year-end. Tesla FSD and robotaxi outlook
Neutral Sentiment: Tesla and SpaceX have formed independent committees to study a possible merger. The combination could provide AI, robotics, software and infrastructure synergies, but it is not assured, requires shareholder approval and raises questions about transaction terms, dilution and governance. Tesla SpaceX merger talks
Negative Sentiment: Profitability deteriorated despite the EPS beat. Operating income fell sharply year over year as AI, robotics and autonomy expenses increased; automotive revenue declined, and Tesla Energy revenue reportedly missed expectations by about 22%. The results reinforce concerns that Tesla’s core vehicle business is not yet funding its ambitious technology expansion. Tesla valuation and third-quarter results
Negative Sentiment: Tesla reduced its 2026 capital-spending outlook to approximately $20 billion from more than $25 billion and pushed back aspects of its Optimus roadmap. Investors interpreted the pullback as a possible sign that AI, robotaxi and robotics deployment may take longer than anticipated. Cybercab plans are also clouded by a federal safety investigation, while unsupervised FSD for personal vehicles is not expected until 2027. Tesla spending pullback and AI ambitions
Negative Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains divided: Mizuho raised its target to $460 and CLSA upgraded Tesla to Hold, but Needham maintained Hold and GLJ Research reaffirmed Sell. With Tesla trading at a very high earnings multiple, investors are demanding rapid growth from products that remain largely unproven at scale.

Tesla Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Tesla, Inc is an electric vehicle and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003, the company designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, including the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y and Cybertruck. Tesla also develops vehicle software, driver-assistance features and related services intended to support the operation and ownership of its vehicles.