Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Upgraded at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $420.00 price target on the electric vehicle producer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $266.00.

TSLA has been the subject of several other reports. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $408.61.

Tesla Stock Down 0.6%

TSLA stock opened at $372.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 409.04, a P/E/G ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 1.92. Tesla has a twelve month low of $297.38 and a twelve month high of $498.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $364.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $377.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $28.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.06 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 3.03% and a net margin of 3.11%. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.13, for a total transaction of $938,498.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,353,296.36. The trade was a 9.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Friedenthal Financial raised its position in shares of Tesla by 66.7% in the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 75 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Lam Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tesla beat third-quarter adjusted earnings expectations, reporting $0.48 per share versus the $0.45 consensus estimate, and generated approximately $1.5 billion in positive free cash flow. Tesla Surpasses Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Paid Full Self-Driving adoption exceeded 75% of North American deliveries, with subscriptions increasing 67% year over year. Investors view FSD, robotaxis, Optimus robots, and Megapack energy storage as potential long-term growth engines. Tesla’s FSD Subscriptions Surge
• Positive Sentiment: European sales reportedly strengthened, while Tesla is expanding its Cybercab robotaxi program beyond Austin and developing AI-based mapping from fleet data. These developments support the company’s autonomy narrative, although commercialization remains early. Tesla Europe Sales Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Elon Musk called a SpaceX-Tesla merger a “good idea,” and both companies reportedly formed special committees to study a combination. Potential benefits include shared work in AI, chips, robotics, connectivity, and energy, but no transaction is certain. SpaceX-Tesla Merger Chatter
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain divided: Morgan Stanley raised its target to $410 with an equal-weight rating, while RBC maintained an outperform rating and a $480 target. Bullish forecasts depend heavily on successful autonomy and robotics execution.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was essentially flat year over year at about $28 billion, automotive revenue fell 3%, energy-generation and storage revenue declined 16%, and GAAP operating income dropped 56%. Refunds and other factors also clouded the reported margin improvement. Tesla Automotive and Energy Revenue Results
• Negative Sentiment: Tesla reduced its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook from more than $25 billion to approximately $20 billion after third-quarter spending trailed expectations. Investors worry the pullback could delay AI, robotics, and robotaxi ambitions. Tesla Spending Pullback
• Negative Sentiment: Tesla will refund Cybertruck deposits in Australia and New Zealand, signaling reduced regional ambitions for the troubled vehicle. Regulatory scrutiny of the Cybercab and delays in unsupervised FSD add further execution risk.
• Negative Sentiment: The broader Nasdaq sell-off, renewed doubts about AI spending returns, higher oil prices, and geopolitical tensions have pressured high-valuation technology stocks, including TSLA.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc is an electric vehicle and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003, the company designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, including the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y and Cybertruck. Tesla also develops vehicle software, driver-assistance features and related services intended to support the operation and ownership of its vehicles.

Beyond automobiles, Tesla produces energy storage products for residential, commercial and utility-scale applications, including the Powerwall and Megapack.