
Analysts’ Ratings on Tesla after Its Q4 Results
By Jitendra ParasharFeb. 5 2019, Updated 7:30 a.m. ET
Ratings on Tesla
According to the latest data compiled by Thomson Reuters, 32% of analysts covering Tesla stock (TSLA) gave it a “buy” recommendation. Another 32% of analysts recommended a “hold,” while the remaining 36% didn’t see any potential upside in the company’s stock price and gave it a “sell” rating. These recommendations were based on the views of 31 Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Target price
As of January 31, 2019, analysts’ consensus 12-month target price for Tesla stock was $328.71, which reflected about 7.1% upside potential from its market price of $307.02. More analysts covering Tesla stock turned negative in the last couple of months. About a week ago, analysts’ consensus target price for Tesla was $330.36.
However, in the last six months, analysts’ consensus target price on Tesla has significantly gone up to $328.71 in January 2019 as compared to a much lower target price of $295.05 about six months ago.
Analysts’ skepticism about the company’s ability to maintain good profitability and improve its margin could be two of the reasons for this caution and pessimism. Also, some of the analysts expect that Tesla will need to raise more money to fund its high volume production and China Gigafactory.
Views on peers
About 44% of analysts covering NIO (NIO), Tesla’s Chinese (MCHI) peer, suggested a “buy” on the stock with ~2.0% upside potential as of January 31. Among large auto companies (XLY), about 67% of analysts recommend a “buy” on General Motors (GM) with ~16.5% upside potential from the market price. In the case of Ford (F), only 24% of analysts recommended a “buy” with ~5.9% upside potential.