Reuters / Mike Blake
- Tesla shares plunged Thursday after the company reported first-quarter delivery figures that fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
- The results renewed analysts' concerns over slowing demand for Tesla's vehicles, a major theme that's haunted shareholders for months.
- The disappointing numbers come just ahead of oral arguments in CEO Elon Musk's contempt of court hearing.
- Watch Tesla trade live.
Tesla shares plunged nearly 9% Thursday morning as Wall Street analysts sounded off on the company's disappointing delivery figures released the evening prior, leading at least one prominent analyst to slash his price target on the name.
The disappointing showing renewed concerns over softening demand for Tesla's electric vehicles. That has been a major pain point for shareholders in recent months - even amid the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3 unveiling and and newly released Model Y.
Analysts for the most part sounded exasperated in their notes sent out to clients following the results. After all, they're trying to square not only the delivery figures that have implications for Tesla's first-quater results, but also a chief executive that's mired in a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission - over tweeting about production.
Read more: Tesla says it delivered about 63,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2019, a 31% drop from Q4 2018
"The now clear incongruence of CEO outlook statements with official company guidance may hurt the perception of management commentary, eroding investor confidence and potentially placing additional pressures on the shares," wrote Ryan Brinkman, an analyst at JP Morgan. He cut his price target from $215 to $200 a share, implying a drop of about 24% from where shares were trading Thursday morning.
Tesla said in a filing out Wednesday that a large number of deliveries would shift to the second quarter due to a "massive increase" in demand from China and Europe.
Some analysts were concerned about this point alone. "Tesla indicated 50% of deliveries were made in the last 10 days of the quarter, continuing to highlight logistics challenge," Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois said in a note.
On Thursday, a judge in New York City is expected to hear oral arguments on whether CEO Elon Musk should be held in contempt of court for tweeting about production numbers earlier this year.
Here's a snapshot of what other Tesla analysts are saying about the Tesla's first-quarter deliveries:
