Analyst revises Tesla stock price target ahead of earnings

Electric vehicle pioneer Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is in a precarious spot at the moment. After a lukewarm to bearish response to the company’s October 10 Robotaxi day event, TSLA stock price dropped by 8.8% — from $238 to $217.

Although the event did feature several key announcements, investors were left wary after yet another full self-driving (FSD) delay from Elon Musk.

At press time, Tesla shares were trading at $217.54 — in the last thirty days, prices have declined by 12.98% in total — bringing year-to-date (YTD) losses to 12.43%.

TSLA is struggling to maintain its current stock price — the automaker’s next earnings call, slated for Wednesday, October 23, will be the deciding factor in the short and medium term. Just two days before the company’s Q3 report, one analyst updated his price target.

Jefferies analyst revises TSLA price target

On October 21, Jefferies equity researcher and managing director Philippe Houchois reiterated a previous ‘Hold’ rating, but raised his price target for Tesla to $195 from the previous $165.

This price target would represent a 10.17% downside from the current TSLA share price. Houchois noted that the ‘We, Robot’ event ‘mostly fell flat’, with nothing substantial in the way of technological advances or new business models. 

He added that Jefferies’ primary concerns regarding the earnings report are operational issues and continuing questions focused on governance and funding.

In terms of governance, Jefferies is worried about CEO compensation and the lack of management delegation across various diverse business units — in terms of funding, the analyst pointed to the business’s reliance on zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) credits, deeming them an uncertain source of revenue.

Mixed estimates for Tesla

Widespread sentiment has turned more bearish — but that’s not to say that there are no positive signs for TSLA to be found. 

Earlier this month, Q3 vehicle delivery figures beat estimates — they did fail to significantly impact the stock price or beat the company’s Q4 2022 record, however, possibly signaling that the EV business’s revenue growth plateau could continue.

Slightly more optimistic than Jefferies, Barclays also maintained a ‘Hold’ rating on October 17, with a price target of $220. The firm stated that, at present, the focus has shifted back to the automaker’s fundamentals. Barclays did concede that it expects an earnings beat — which would serve as a strong bullish catalyst.

Tesla is also slated to launch a variety of more affordable models in early 2025 — which could serve to maintain steady earnings and revenue until the plans for Robotaxis and FSD come to fruition.