

Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) drops in the aftermath of Q1 earnings: Here’s Wall St’s take
Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) experienced a 3% drop on Thursday’s intraday as the electric car maker felt the aftermath of its Q1 2019 earnings. The company posted a loss of $702 million or $4.10 a share in the first quarter, which is almost comparable to Q1 2018’s loss of $4.19 per share.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the company’s executives explained during the Q1 2019 earnings call that the company’s lower-than-expected performance was due to one-time items and circumstances such as delivery delays for the Model 3 in Europe and China. With Tesla back in the red, here is what Wall Street analysts are now saying.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, a longtime TSLA bull, downgraded Tesla from “Outperform” to “Neutral” while adjusting his price target for the company from $365 per share to a far more conservative $275 per share. Ives also penned a scathing note on Thursday, calling Tesla’s Q1 results as one of the “top debacles” Wedbush has ever seen, and criticizing the company’s executives for their belief that demand and profitability will “magically” return in the coming quarters.
“In our 20 years of covering tech stocks on the Street, we view this quarter as one of the top debacles we have ever seen while Musk & Co. in an episode out of the Twilight Zone act as if demand and profitability will magically return to the Tesla story. Ultimately we believe the company’s guidance is aggressive and management/board is not taking aggressive enough cost-cutting actions and shutting down future endeavors to preserve capital and give a sustained path to profitability for the Street. We no longer can look investors in the eye and recommend buying this stock at current levels until Tesla starts to take its medicine and focus on the reality around demand issues which is the core focus of investors,” Ives wrote.
Ryan Brinkman of JP Morgan noted that a negative reaction was already expected considering Elon Musk’s previous comments about Tesla’s inability to turn a profit in Q1. Brinkman, who has an “Underweight” rating and a $200 price target on TSLA stock, also pointed out Tesla’s willingness to do a capital raise this year. “Management also seemed less opposed to an equity capital raise, acknowledging “some merit” to the idea, which in our view serves to highlight dilution risk that likely rises after 1Q cash flow and cash balance tracked weaker than JPM and consensus expectations. While 2Q deliveries guidance appears potentially aggressive, the full year outlook for 360-400K implies a further roughly +35% to +45% sequential increase from 1H19 to 2H19, further highlighting the execution risk entailed in meeting the figures that are implied needed to generate positive earnings and cash flow,” he wrote.
Joseph Spak from RBC noted that Tesla’s Q1 numbers were “uglier than expected,” while stating that a capital raise will likely be held this year. Similar to Brinkman, Spak reiterated his “Underweight” rating and $200 price target for Tesla stock. “Elon talked about putting Tesla on a ‘Spartan diet’ and while we don’t doubt the company spent inefficiently in the past, the low capex+R&D and of course the lower sales, are not hallmarks of a hyper-growth company, yet TSLA continues to be valued as one,” he wrote.
Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst also proved bearish on the company, expressing his reservations about Tesla in a segment of CNBC‘s Street Signs. The analyst was skeptical of the demand for Tesla’s vehicles, even noting that the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV are already starting to look “quite old.” “If you claim that demand is huge and unlimited then the key question is, why do you lower your mix? Why do you lower your pricing? I mean the S and the X are quite advanced in any normal life cycle of a product so they would really need a significant refresh in order to restore the pricing. The brand will be less exclusive than it has been in the past,” the Evercore ISI analyst said.
Not all analysts covering the company were bearish after Tesla’s release of its first-quarter results. In a note, Piper Jaffray analyst Alexander Potter opted to look into the coming quarters for a potential recovery, while pointing out that Tesla’s shortcomings in Q1 were the result of several factors. “Although logistical challenges—long with lower transaction prices—had an obvious impact on Q1 profitability, we think this was temporary,” analyst Alexander Potter wrote in a note. “Guidance implies a second-half recovery for both deliveries and margins, and this seems reasonable to us. The first quarter suffered from a particularly nasty combination of headwinds, including seasonality, a big buildup of non-US deliveries (negative for logistics costs and working capital), as well as the expiration of tax incentives in the United States,” Potter wrote.
As of writing, Tesla is trading down -3.35% at $250.00 per share.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk affirms Tesla commitment and grueling work schedule: “Daddy is very much home”
The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated his commitment to the electric vehicle maker and its future projects this week, responding to speculation following his $1 billion purchase of TSLA stock.
The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market, extending a rally fueled in part by Musk’s TSLA purchase.
Elon Musk’s nonstop work schedule
Amidst the reaction of TSLA stock to Musk’s $1 billion investment, Tesla owners such as @greggertruck noted that “Daddy’s home.” Musk replied, stating that “Daddy is very much home.” He then shared details of a packed weekend of work, which was definitely grueling but completely within character for a “wartime CEO.”
Musk did note, however, that he had lunch with his kids during the weekend despite his extremely busy schedule.
“Daddy is very much home. Am burning the midnight oil with Optimus engineering on Friday night, then redeye overnight to Austin arriving 5am, wake up to have lunch with my kids and then spend all Saturday afternoon in deep technical reviews for the Tesla AI5 chip design.
“Fly to Colossus II on Monday to walk the whole datacenter floor, review transformers and power production (excellent progress), depart midnight. Then up to 12 hours of back-to-back meetings across all Tesla departments, but with a particular focus on AI/Autopilot, Optimus production plans, and vehicle production/delivery,” Musk wrote in his post.
Wartime CEO
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described Musk as operating in “wartime CEO mode,” highlighting autonomous driving and AI as a trillion-dollar market opportunity for Tesla. Musk reiterated this point late last month as well, when he outlined the several projects he is juggling among his numerous companies. At the time, Musk stated that he was busy with Starship 10, Grok 5, and Tesla V14. This was despite his notable presence on X.
With Tesla Master Plan Part IV being partly released, the company is entering what could very well be its most ambitious stage to date. To usher in an era of sustainable abundance, Tesla would definitely require a “wartime CEO,” someone who could remain locked in and determined to push through any obstacles to ensure that the company achieves its goals.
Elon Musk
Tesla analyst says Musk stock buy should send this signal to investors
“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased roughly $1 billion in Tesla shares on Friday, and analysts are now breaking down the move as the stock is headed upward.
One of them is William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who said in a new note to investors on Monday that Musk’s move should send a signal of confidence to stock buyers, especially considering the company’s numerous catalysts that currently exist.
Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever
Dorsheimer said in the note:
“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish. This purchase is Musk’s first buy since 2020. To us, this sends a strong signal of confidence in the most important part of Tesla’s future business, robotaxi.”
Musk putting an additional $1 billion back into the company in the form of more stock ownership is obviously a huge vote of confidence.
He knows more than anyone about the progress Tesla has made and is making on the Robotaxi platform, as well as the company’s ongoing efforts to solve vehicle autonomy. If he’s buying stock, it is more than likely a good sign.
Tesla has continued to expand its Robotaxi platform in a number of ways. The project has gotten bigger in terms of service area, vehicle fleet, and testing population. Tesla has also recently received a permit to test in Nevada, unlocking the potential to expand into a brand-new state for the company.
In the note, Dorsheimer also touched on Musk’s recent pay package, revealing that William Blair recently met with Tesla’s Board of Directors, who gave the firm some more color on the situation:
“We recently participated in a meeting with Tesla’s board of directors to discuss the details of Musk’s performance package. The board is confident of its position in the Delaware case and anticipates a verdict by end of year. It does not expect a similar situation to occur under new Texas jurisdiction. Musk has the board’s full support, and we expect he’ll get more than enough shareholder support for this to pass with flying colors.”
Tesla stock is up over 6 percent so far today, trading at $421.50 at the time of publication.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever
Prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rose on Monday after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a rare insider purchase of company stock worth about $1 billion.
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Musk acquired 2.57 million shares last Friday at various prices. The move represents Musk’s largest TSLA purchase ever by value, as per Verity data.
Elon Musk’s TSLA purchase
The disclosure sent Tesla shares up more than 8% in premarket trading Monday, as investors read the purchase as a notable vote of confidence, as stated in a CNBC report. Tesla stock had closed slightly lower Friday but remains more than 25% higher over the past three months. It should be noted that prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.
Market watchers say the purchase could help shore up investor sentiment amid a volatile year for TSLA stock. Shares have faced pressure from a variety of factors, from year-over-year sales challenges due to the new Model Y changeover, political controversies tied to Musk, and reduced U.S. incentives for EVs under the Trump administration. Nevertheless, analysts such as Wedbush’s Dan Ives stated that Musk’s purchase was a “huge sign of confidence for Tesla bulls and shows Musk is doubling down on his Tesla A.I. bet.”
Tesla and Elon Musk
Musk already owns about 13% of Tesla, and his latest purchase comes as the company prepares for a key shareholder vote in November. Investors will decide whether to approve a compensation package for Musk that could ultimately be worth as much as $975 billion if ambitious market value milestones are achieved. The package has a long-term target of pushing Tesla’s market capitalization to $8.5 trillion, compared with about $1.3 trillion at Friday’s close.
Wall Street’s current consensus price target still implies a roughly 20% decline from current levels, though some Tesla bulls remain optimistic that the company could shift its focus toward autonomy, AI, and robotics. Musk has also asked shareholders to approve an investment into his latest venture, xAI.
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