Tesla Inc. the well-known electric car manufacturer may in fact reach Wall Street’s expectations for second quarter sales, however according to analysts at Goldman Sachs that could be the best news the car manufacturer has to offer. In a note to clients on Thursday a team of analysts led by David Tamberrino who are well known bears when it comes to Tesla, have said they are keeping their sell rating on the stock with a price target of $158 USD per share, which is almost a 30% reduction in price from Thursdays close.
Recently the shares of the company got a much needed boost, after Chief Executive Elon Musk, addressed a rumor surrounding possible demand problems, Musk explained that there is no issues in demand, and that Tesla have a more than possible shot at breaking their quarterly record for sales and production of their vehicles. So far in the month of June Tesla shares have seen an incline of 18% which is more than double the gains for the S&P 50 index which suffered a 22% loss in May. Quarterly losses are over 21% versus a 3.7% advance for the broader stock index. The analysts at Goldman Sachs have said that Tesla’s second quarter sales figures should be fine, and they are most probably going to meet, or only narrowly miss out on the Wall Street Consensus, but going into the second half of the year, and beyond the analysts have said that Wall Street’s outlook looks rather high considering there will be fewer opportunities to generate more demand moving forward.

Tesla have already this year released a more cost effective version of their model 3, alongside lease options and right hand drive vehicles. Federal tax credits are set to be lowered on the first of July and the companies second quarter has been a much more attractive environment for demand and deliveries of their products, however the analysts pointed out that to sustain the same levels in which they have seen recently is highly unlikely. The analysts have said the largest question for investors in the company at the moment is what are sustainable realistic demand levels for Tesla’s models S, X, and 3, and how will those levels be affected by the new introduction of the new Tesla Model Y. “While there is potential upside surprise from a faster ramp or pull forward of Model Y ahead of schedule ... there is likely cannibalization of current Model X and Model 3 product demand with a crossover variant,” they said.


Christian Hoi – Walter International