Tesla CEO Elon Musk failed to address investor concerns about price cuts during “another conference call” this week, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told clients in a research note Thursday. Ives lowered Tesla’s 12-month stock price target by 10% to $315, which still represents about 52% upside from Wednesday’s closing price. The analyst told clients that Tesla’s poor earnings call had shaken Wedbush’s confidence in the company’s near-term performance. “We expect Musk and team to step up as adults in the room on the call and provide a strategic and financial overview of ongoing price cuts, margin structure and volatile demand,” Ives told clients in a note. Completely wrong.” “Instead, we got the long-term view of Tesla executives on another train wreck call,” the analyst said. Tesla on Wednesday reported disappointing fourth-quarter results, with revenue of just It grew 3%, in part due to the automaker’s steep price cuts amid weak demand for electric vehicles. Tesla also warned that sales growth in 2024 “may be significantly lower.” Ives described Tesla’s price cuts as a recent “Category 4 hurricane.” Musk’s lack of communication and guidance “is a bitter pill for bulls to swallow,” the analyst wrote. Still, Ives said Tesla’s long-term story remains intact, and Wedbusch is convinced that mass-market adoption of electric vehicles is coming. Despite lowering his stock price target, Ives maintained his outperform rating on Tesla. “Our near-term confidence in the story has been shaken, but we remain steadfast in our belief that the long-term bull thesis around Tesla and the broader AI story will hold,” Ives wrote. “For Musk, , this is a critical period for Tesla to weather the storm that will help shape (or haunt) its electric vehicle future.”
