Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 3.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $364.46 and last traded at $367.96. 77,341,407 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 61,245,555 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.30.

Key Tesla News

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: US government-confirmed supply deal: Reuters reports a $4.3 billion LFP prismatic battery cell supply agreement between Tesla and LG Energy Solution — a material, multi?year supply commitment that supports cost and scale for Tesla’s lower-cost vehicle programs and energy products. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Solar manufacturing push: Multiple reports say Tesla is in talks to buy ~$2.9B of solar equipment from Chinese suppliers to build out U.S. solar panel/cell capacity — supports Elon Musk’s 100 GW U.S. solar goal and diversifies revenue beyond vehicles. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chip/AI roadmap progressing: Elon Musk and Reuters/Barron’s coverage indicate Tesla is targeting a December 2026 tape?out for next?gen AI chips (AI6/AI5) and pursuing “Terafab” initiatives — a successful chip program would reduce supply risk and accelerate Tesla’s autonomy/robotics ambitions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Semi truck early traction: Media reports (WSJ) show positive early feedback from truckers on Tesla’s Semi — encouraging for commercial product credibility, but near?term revenue impact is modest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Geographic/energy expansion: Job listings and reporting show Tesla preparing an India push into industrial energy storage — long?term optionality for energy business, but execution and timing unclear. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory overhang — FSD probe escalates: U.S. regulators (NHTSA) upgraded the FSD investigation to engineering analysis covering millions of vehicles after crashes in reduced?visibility conditions — this raises recall/enforcement risk and is a primary driver of today’s weakness. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/market pressure on deliveries and valuation: UBS and others have cut Q1 delivery forecasts and reiterated cautious ratings; HSBC headlines predicting deep downside amplify negative sentiment and volatility. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competition & robotaxi doubts: Rivian/Uber alliance and commentary that Waymo leads the AV race increase skepticism about Tesla’s robotaxi timeline and margins for autonomy/Optimus. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on TSLA shares. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $439.00 to $438.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $508.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $406.84.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 340.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $414.76 and a 200-day moving average of $427.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. Tesla had a return on equity of 4.86% and a net margin of 4.00%.The company had revenue of $24.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 25,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.56, for a total transaction of $10,692,774.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,173,649.64. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.40, for a total transaction of $26,724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 577,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $257,009,607.40. This trade represents a 9.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 87,995 shares of company stock valued at $38,315,650 over the last three months. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,925,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $116,443,762,000 after buying an additional 6,538,720 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 114,842,934 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $51,647,164,000 after buying an additional 1,080,085 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 65,700,975 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $29,426,070,000 after buying an additional 375,946 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Tesla by 5.8% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,035,949 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $19,583,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,019 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $17,128,100,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean?energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery?electric vehicles and related services.