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Tesla (TSLA) gets $1,300 price target from Goldman Sachs bear

A Tesla Model 3 driving at night. (Photo: Andres GE)

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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has received a new $1,300 price target from a bearish analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Goldman analyst David Tamberrino increased his price target for the electric automaker’s stock from $950 to $1,300. The stock holds a neutral rating from Goldman Sachs.

“We suggest that investors be tactical with the stock,” the Goldman analyst said, according to StreetInsider.

TSLA stock closed at a record high for the fifth consecutive trading day yesterday on Tuesday, June 7. The stock has surged 223% since the market hit rock bottom in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tesla has enjoyed the fruits of its labor after stepping up amidst the virus’ rampage across the globe.

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Despite closures at both its Fremont production facility in Northern California, and in China at its Giga Shanghai plant, Tesla managed to deliver 90,650 vehicles in Q2. Fremont was closed from March 23 to May 10, and Shanghai experience closures only in Q1. However, the company managed to exceed expectations and beat Wall Street estimates that had pegged Tesla to deliver between 72,000 and 83,000 cars.

Historically, Tamberrino has been extremely bearish on TSLA stock. In June 2019, Tamberrino indicated that he believed Tesla’s demand would begin to fall as a result of Model Y production.

“We believe a downward path for shares will resume as it becomes more clear that sustainable demand for the company’s current products are below expectations,” he wrote to a note to investors last Summer.

After releasing the note in June 2019, Goldman Sachs changed its price target from $200 to $158 per share.

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However, the Goldman Sachs automotive analyst is now increasing his price target to $1,300. This price target is still around $100 less than what the company’s stock is trading at currently.

Interestingly enough, many relatively bearish TSLA analysts are continuing to increase price targets and bullish outlooks. However, these analysts are not recommending investors to buy the company’s stock.

On July 7, Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas revised his bull case price target to $2,070 for TSLA stock. However, Morgan Stanley and Jonas both reiterated that investors should stay away from TSLA stock because of several risks, which included skepticism regarding the company’s performance in China.

However, Tesla held 23 percent of China’s entire EV market in June, the Chinese Passenger Car Association reported. Sales of the company’s Model 3, which is currently the only vehicle manufactured at Tesla’s Giga Shanghai production facility, also rose 35 percent from May to June.

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Tesla’s Q2 2020 Earnings Call will occur later this month. If the company reports a profit, it will be the fourth consecutive quarter where the company turned positive profitability, ending criticisms that Tesla has never made money on a yearly basis.

At the time of writing, TSLA was trading at $1,390.75.

Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke

Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.

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SpaceX scrubbed the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt Thursday evening at the last possible moment, after four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence. The 90-minute window had opened at 6:45 p.m. EDT from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, and the countdown had proceeded without issue all day, with more than 11.5 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen being fully loaded into the rocket before the automated abort triggered. SpaceX’s launch directors posted on X, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt,” and shut down the livestream shortly after.

Musk confirmed the root cause within hours. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” he wrote on X. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.” SpaceX engineers began draining propellant tanks immediately and Booster 20 was rolled back to its hangar for inspection.

SpaceX comes with a slew of changes for Starship Flight 13

 

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The timing adds a layer of significance that did not exist during any of the previous 12 Starship flights. This is the first time SpaceX has attempted to launch Starship since the company made its stock market debut in June, listing under ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Public investors are now watching every Starship outcome in real time, and a last-second abort carries more visibility than it would have six months ago.

Flight 13 was designed to be one of the most consequential tests in the program’s history. It was set to carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload Starship has ever attempted to deploy. Six of those satellites carried external cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield from the outside during flight, which would act as a self-inspection approach SpaceX has never attempted before. The mission also needed to complete a Raptor engine relight in space, a step SpaceX skipped on Flight 12 in May after losing an engine during ascent. That Flight 12 booster also flipped 90 degrees off course during its boostback burn when five engines failed to reignite.

SpaceX has not announced an official next launch date. Musk’s “early next week” window points to July 21 or 22 at the earliest, pending the engine swap and a return to the pad.

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Investor's Corner

Lucid CEO dispels any rumors of bankruptcy: ‘So far from the facts’

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Credit: Lucid

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 denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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Investor's Corner

Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop

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Credit: Lucid

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:

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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.

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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.

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