Investor's Corner
Tesla drops 4% and hits 2-year lows, but TSLA bulls remain undeterred
Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 4% on Friday as the electric car maker continued to feel the aftermath of its Q1 financial report. As Tesla hit 2-year lows, Wall Street continued to be polarized about the company, with bears piling on the skepticism and TSLA bulls remaining firm in their support for the electric car maker.
Seemingly smelling blood in the water, Tesla bears continued their attacks on the company. Gabe Hoffman, founder of Accipiter Capital Management and a Tesla short, called Elon Musk a “lying magician” during a segment of Yahoo Finance‘s The Ticker. Garrett Nelson, CFRA senior research analyst, noted that the company’s guidance looks “unrealistic” and a “problem going forward.” Longtime TSLA bull Dan Ives from Wedbush also wrote a scathing note following Tesla’s Q1 earnings call, describing the first quarter as a “top debacle.”
While the current state of Tesla stock does not inspire much confidence, some of the company’s bulls have remained supportive of the electric car maker. Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois noted that while there is “ongoing stress,” for Tesla, he saw “enough positive surprises from auto gross margin resilience, cash earnings, and gross liquidity to argue the shares have sufficiently re-priced.” Houchois admitted that his current call might be “hard to live with at times,” but he maintained that he sees value in Tesla’s electric vehicle/connectivity technology and implementation.
Arguably taking an unpopular opinion, the Jefferies analyst stated that he remained confident that “there is a path to sustained profitability” for the electric car maker. Houchois ultimately kept his “Buy” rating on TSLA stock, as well as a very optimistic $400 price target.
ARK Invest CIO Cathie Wood, a long-term TSLA bull, discussed Tesla’s first quarter results in a segment of CNN‘s First Move. According to Wood, the electric car maker’s Q1 numbers might be provocative, but they are not really a surprise. “The numbers looked provocative. I will say that from the get-go. But we knew this was going to be a tough quarter. We knew they were retooling. We knew that they were going to pay back the convertible notes. So there’s going to be a cash drain. I don’t think there were too many surprises,” she said.
In a rather interesting twist, Craig Irwin of Roth Capital Partners, has turned less bearish on Tesla following the Q1 earnings call. Irwin is a Tesla critic, recently claiming that the electric car maker will be in trouble because of competition from legacy auto. In a segment on CNBC‘s Squawk Box, Irwin explained why he currently rates Tesla as a hold. “(The Q1 results were) very much as telegraphed. I mean, we’ve known the units for a while. Nothing gets me more constructive here, but frankly, I’m not more bearish. I just think that the probability of an equity offering or some capital access is much, much higher with the cash position down as much as it was,” he said.
With Friday’s 4% drop, TSLA shares have now fallen 29% in 2019. Tesla’s market cap has also declined from $63 billion in mid-December to $40.8 billion. Wall Street analysts currently expect the electric car maker’s revenue to expand 19% in 2019, far less than the 83% growth it exhibited in 2018 and the 68% growth in 2017, according to Refinitiv.
As of writing, Tesla stock is trading 4.77% at $235.81.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli responded to rumors of an imminent bankruptcy that was reportedly being mulled after a report stated the automaker was working with the firm AlixPartners to iron out its next steps.
The company felt a massive loss on Wall Street yesterday, as the report essentially pushed the stock down as much as 55 percent on Tuesday.
The report, published initially by Eletric-Vehicles.com, claimed Lucid was essentially in dire straits and was told by AlixPartners, a commonly used restructuring advisor, to either take shares private or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lucid’s head of Communications, Nick Twork, immediately challenged the report and stated the company “has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year.”
Now, the company’s CEO is chiming in as well, stating that the report is “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Napoli said:
“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period.
As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.
We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.
My priority is clear: turn this company around. That is where the leadership team and I are focused.
I look forward to providing a full update during our quarterly earnings call on August 4th.”
🚨 Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli calls rumors of financial issues “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Read his full remarks here: https://t.co/t3Pg1NHvzy pic.twitter.com/LvHUPhO4Qf
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2026
It seems pretty clear that Lucid is confident things will be okay, and, to be honest, they should not have much to worry about, especially considering the company has been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for years. It has solid financial backing, and its sales, while weak, are pretty much right on par with a company of this age.
Lucid also sent a Cease & Desist letter to the publication for their report.
Lucid shares have rebounded nicely and are up nearly 21 percent at the time of publication. As soon as the company dispelled the rumors of bankruptcy yesterday, the stock began to climb back toward more reasonable levels.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
Tesla received a price target upgrade just on the heels of what was a crazy successful quarter for its automotive business, as the company reported a delivery beat of over 15 percent for Q2.
Jefferies analysts are upping Tesla’s price target (NASDAQ: TSLA) to $400 from $375, while maintaining their “Hold” rating on shares, and the strong automotive deliveries from Q2 is a big reason. However, there are some other catalysts that Jefferies believes position Tesla for a strong position in the second half of the year.
Strong Deliveries
Tesla reported 480,000 deliveries for Q2, while Wall Street was between 395,000 and 405,000, as an overall consensus. It was an incredibly strong quarter from a delivery perspective, and Tesla sold well more than it produced during the three months.
Tesla crushes Wall Street expectations, beats delivery estimates by over 15 percent
While vehicle deliveries are not necessarily looked at in the light that they used to be, Tesla still maintains a lot of advantages for keeping deliveries strong. With the loss of the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year, Tesla still maintains a strong demand case for its EVs.
Robotaxi Performance
Tesla has been operating Robotaxi for over a year now, as it launched in Austin in mid-2025. That program has expanded to Houston and Dallas, the San Francisco Bay Area, and, most recently, Miami, Florida, the suite’s first appearance in the Sunshine State.
While the Robotaxi suite is still in its early phases and Tesla is working through things like fleet size and wait times, the company has been able to undercut the pricing of its competitors and has a great safety record.
Merger Speculation with Tesla and SpaceX
This is perhaps the biggest topic that many are speaking about with Tesla and SpaceX, and it is the one thing that seems to be on the mind of every investor.
Jefferies warns that growing talk of a Tesla-SpaceX merger could cause Tesla stock to trade more like a SpaceX proxy, which may disconnect it from underlying automotive fundamentals. SpaceX has a lot going for it, especially its compute deals that have been widely publicized as of late.
Profitability in New Projects Could Take Some Time
Tesla has a few long-term ventures in the pipeline, most notably the Optimus project and Robotaxi, which is launched but will take several years to expand to a meaningful level that resonates with everyday people.
This is something that investors need to be careful of. Tesla’s projects could take some time to round out, so Jefferies advises that these may carry initial losses, rather than immediate profit. Seasoned Tesla investors have echoed something like this for a long time; they knew going in it would not be an open-and-shut strategy. It was going to take time.
These new projects are no different.
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