Investor's Corner
Morgan Stanley, Baird weigh in on Tesla (TSLA) following Monday’s slide
After Monday’s steep dive, Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) received a vote of confidence from several Wall St. analysts who reiterated their support for the electric car maker. The new optimistic outlook for Tesla’s stock comes amidst the aftermath of a Wall Street Journal stating that the company asked suppliers for refunds to help it reach profitability.
In a recently published note, Baird analyst Ben Kallo stated that the recent selloff of Tesla stock is a huge buying opportunity for investors. Kallo did not provide a direct comment on the WSJ article, though he did state that the market’s reaction to the report seems to be overly negative. The analyst reiterated his Outperform rating on Tesla stock, keeping a price target of $411 on the company’s shares.
“We hesitated to comment on the WSJ article, but believe the stock reaction is overly negative. We believe contract negotiations are an effort to increase profitability, rather than a sign TSLA is looking to reinforce its balance sheet. Based on the available information, we view this report as a further step in TSLA’s progression towards profitability rather than as a necessity to strengthen the company’s balance sheet. We think bear arguments that renegotiations are necessary to sustain TSLA’s balance sheet are overly exaggerated.
“We think it is unlikely TSLA would be asking for concessions from a position of weakness, and think the report could indicate TSLA production is ramping. We are buyers on any weakness, although we expect bears could pile on ahead of the quarter.”
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas stated that the “push and pull” of media reports on Tesla has added a layer of risk to evaluating the electric car maker in the short term. Nevertheless, Jonas stated that he believes Tesla is currently trading at fair value, adding that higher average selling prices on the company’s vehicles could prove to be the margin booster that Tesla has been waiting on.
Consumer Edge Research senior analyst James Albertine has also weighed in on the recent movement of Tesla stock. In a segment on Bloomberg Markets: The Open, Albertine stated that regardless of negative reports about the company, Tesla still appears to be on its way to profitability.
“Let’s take a step back from the unbelievable number of headlines that come out hourly on this name. (Tesla is) a company that is well on their way to profitability, we think, predicated on the ramp of the Model 3. The need to raise cash is because there’s such great demand for the products that they’ve created.
“There’s a lot of good things about Tesla that get lost in these discussions between quarterly results, and we’re very impressed by their ability to get to 5,000 units per week at the end of June. That was something no one thought was possible as of the first quarter. It is unfortunate that we have to parry all these different issues day in and day out, but we do believe underpinning all of this, is an incredible demand for an incredible product.”
Tesla stock took a beating on Monday’s trading, at one point going down more than 5% and hitting as low as $293.57 per share. Over the day, and as Tesla released an official statement responding to the Wall Street Journal report, the stock leveled out, ending at $303.20 on Monday.
Tesla stock will likely continue to exhibit volatility as the company approaches the date for its Q2 2018 financial results and earnings call, which is set to be held after market close on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. Despite sustained downward pressure from Wall St., Tesla is continuing its push to ramp Model 3 production and deliveries through the third quarter. With initiatives such as test drive programs for the Model 3, a 5-minute Sign & Drive system, as well as the possibility of adopting a digital contract when purchasing its cars, Tesla appears incredibly determined to prove that it could be profitable this third quarter.
As of writing, Tesla is trading down 2.30% at $296.24 per share.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SpaceX announces new Starship 13 test flight target date
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
