Tesla stock closes at its lowest price since January 2017 to end a brutal week
- Tesla had a brutal week.
- After announcing the upcoming departure of three board members last Friday after markets closed, the company held an investor day on Monday.
- On Wednesday, the company's first quarter earnings missed analyst estimates on both revenue and earnings.
- The stock closed at $235.14 on Friday, its lowest price since January 2017.
Shares of Tesla fell more than 5% in trading Friday to close at $235.14, their lowest level since January 2017.
The stock ended the brutal week down more than 12% after an investor day that focused on autonomy and failed to excite Wall Street analysts was followed shortly after by an earnings report that missed expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
"To this point, in our 20 years of covering tech stocks on the Street we view this quarter as one of top debacles we have ever seen while Musk & Co. in an episode out of the Twilight Zone act as if demand and profitability will magically return to the Tesla story," Ives and his fellow analyst Strecker Backe said in a note on Thursday.
"As such, we no longer can look investors in the eye and recommend buying this stock at current levels until Tesla starts to take its medicine and focus on reality around demand issues which is the core focus of investors."
Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg currently have an average price target of $296 for Tesla - about 26% higher than Friday's close. 12 of those analysts recommend buying the stock, with nine rating it neutrally and 15 rating it a sell.
"We remain encouraged by Tesla's vision and future growth prospects (brand value, global Model 3 and Y TAM, Semi, etc.), but there is increased uncertainty around near-term demand vs previous bullish forecasts and growth cannot stall for a growth company," Evercore ISI analysts led by Arndt Ellinghorst wrote in a note to clients out Monday.
The firm cut Tesla to an "underperform" rating from "in-line."
CEO Elon Musk, meanwhile, is still involved in a lengthy tussle with federal stock regulators. On Thursday, Musk and the SEC asked a judge for another one-week extension for their ongoing talks about Musk's twitter use.
Rebecca Ungarino contributed to this report.
More Tesla news:
- Tesla is shuffling its board of directors amid ongoing negotiations with the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Tesla is investigating why a Model S appeared to explode in a Shanghai parking garage
- Lyft's COO, a former Tesla exec, is the latest expert to throw cold water on Elon Musk's plan to have a million robo-taxis on the road by 2020