Tesla will struggle this year, and may be forced to cut EV prices again to shore up demand, Bernstein analyst says

• Tesla faces obstacles this year due to its lack of new car releases, according to a Bernstein strategist.
• "Our perspective is that upcoming numbers won't be great," Toni Sacconaghi told CNBC.

Tesla will likely face challenging business conditions this year given the EV maker hasn't lined up any new models - and that could force the firm to slash car prices again to shore up demand, according to Bernstein's senior research analyst.

"Our perspective is that upcoming numbers won't be great. I think there's limited chance that Tesla will eclipse consensus expectations in terms of deliveries this quarter. I think margins will be down sequentially, because they took incremental price cuts in the quarter," Toni Sacconaghi told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.

The analyst added that the lack of new car releases could lead to supply-side issues for Tesla, calling for more demand-spurring price cuts.

"That's the challenge over the next four to six quarters before we have some new, lower-priced models. That's our concern, that Tesla will ultimately fall short on deliveries at some point over the next four to six quarters, or that we're going to see continued price cuts to be able to drive that growth," Sacconaghi said.

The automaker run by Elon Musk has triggered a price war with competitors including Ford and GM, after it slashed the prices of its EV models six times this year in a bid to spur demand. The price cuts mean Tesla's Model Y cars are cheaper than ever, selling for $47,740. That's less than the average car price in the US.

While that's helped boost demand with first-quarter deliveries surging 36%, the price cuts are also hurting Tesla's profits. That's caused investors to worry that the carmaker is sacrificing its margins for volume.

Nevertheless, Tesla shares seen impressive gains this quarter after investors grew excited over the company's charging deals with Ford and GM.