Truist Financial Cuts Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $438.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price reduced by Truist Financial from $439.00 to $438.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a hold rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on TSLA. Morgan Stanley set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. President Capital reduced their price target on Tesla from $529.00 to $517.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Roth Mkm set a $505.00 target price on shares of Tesla and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.58.

Tesla Trading Up 3.3%

TSLA opened at $430.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $447.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $408.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 398.53, a PEG ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.83. Tesla has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $498.83.

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

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 56,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.66, for a total value of $25,606,501.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,391,615 shares in the company, valued at $627,145,215.90. This trade represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total value of $1,170,643.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,757 shares in the company, valued at $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 119,457 shares of company stock valued at $53,501,145 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,925,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $116,443,762,000 after acquiring an additional 6,538,720 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 113,762,849 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $50,592,614,000 after purchasing an additional 344,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,767,993 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $20,480,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,035,949 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $19,583,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,019 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla during the second quarter valued at $11,839,824,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SpaceX merger talk fuels optimism that Elon Musk could further consolidate his tech assets, a scenario investors view as value-accretive for Tesla (merger talk helped push TSLA higher). Tesla jumps as SpaceX merger talks fuel Musk empire consolidation hopes (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beats and clear robotaxi/FSD progress: Tesla topped EPS and revenue estimates, disclosed 1.1M active FSD subs and reiterated Cybercab/robotaxi production targets — evidence that software and services can offset weaker vehicle volume. Could Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Fuel the Next Rally? (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Investment in xAI and AI positioning: Tesla disclosed a multi‑billion involvement with Musk’s xAI and is pushing chip/TeraFab plans — reinforcing the market view of Tesla as a “physical AI” play rather than a pure auto OEM. Tesla reveals $2 billion investment in Elon Musk’s xAI (Fortune)
• Neutral Sentiment: Model S/X discontinuation and factory retooling — strategic for long‑term robotics capacity but implies short-term restructuring and transition risk; impact depends on execution and timing. Tesla Kills Legacy Models: Analyst Response Is Meh (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst reactions and target churn — some firms raised targets on the AI/robotics story while others trimmed them, leaving consensus sentiment split and volatility likely to persist.
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex and cash‑burn risk: management guided to >$20B capex to reshuffle factories for robots, Cybercab and batteries — a heavy near‑term cash demand that could pressure margins and free cash flow. Tesla plans $20 billion capital spending spree (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: First annual revenue decline and softer vehicle deliveries raise near‑term execution concerns — investors worry Optimus/robotaxi revenue is far out and that margins could be pressured during the transition.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable bearish analyst moves (e.g., JPMorgan cut to underweight with a $145 target) increase downside headline risk and may cap rallies until clarity on capex pacing and robot/robotaxi ramps arrives.

Tesla Company Profile

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.