Bobby Yip/Reuters
- Tesla shares fell modestly on Thursday after the electric-car maker reported first-quarter results the evening prior that fell short of analysts' expectations.
- Wall Street analysts' commentary in the wake of the quarterly results laid bare the stark divide between Tesla bulls and bears.
- Markets Insider has rounded up a selection of what some analysts, both bullish and bearish, are saying about Tesla's earnings and where the stock goes from here.
- Watch Tesla trade live.
Tesla missed the mark by a mile.
First-quarter profits and sales out Tuesday evening fell short of Wall Street's expectations - even as analysts and investors were pre-warned about how disappointing the quarter would be. Shares of the electric-car maker fell 1% early Thursday.
While some analysts said the results were better than feared, and pointed to potentially encouraging portions like the company's belief that it would generate positive free-cash-flow for the remainder of the year, others said underlying demand remains a concern.
The post-earnings commentary highlights the battleground nature of evaluating Tesla shares. Some noted bulls, like Baird analyst Ben Kallo, stuck to their guns and said the Elon Musk-led company would forge a recovery ahead.
"Demand will likely remain a focus for bears, though we share management's constructive view," Kallo said in a note to clients on Thursday, holding steady his "outperform" rating and $400 price target.
Some noted bears, like Citi's Itay Michaeli, said Tesla's balance sheet leaves much to be desired.
"More negatives than positives in Q1 as Tesla swings back to a sizable loss & FCF burn, putting greater emphasis on the need to bolster balance sheet cushion, in our view," he said in a note to clients late Wednesday, maintaining his "sell/high risk" rating and $238 price target.
Read more: Tesla posts huge loss, says deliveries are still on track despite 'aggressive schedule'
One standout evaluation of Tesla's results, however, came from one of the most vocal and longtime Tesla bulls, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who sliced his price target from $365 to $275 and cut his rating to "neutral."
Since Tesla will likely soon have to raise capital to sustain its capital expenditure and debt needs, with what Wedbush sees as an "inexperienced" chief financial officer, the firm says it can no longer "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."
Here's what else Wall Street analysts are saying about Tesla's first-quarter results:
Get the latest Tesla stock price here.