On November 2, 2023, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk reacted during a dialogue event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London.
Kirsty Wigglesworth | Kirsty Wigglesworth Reuters
Tesla Shares of the company fell in premarket trading Thursday after the company reported earnings that missed expectations and warned of an economic slowdown in 2024.
Tesla shares were trading around 8% as of approximately 6.33 a.m. ET.
Tesla’s revenue and profit reported on Wednesday fell short of market expectations. As a closely watched metric, Tesla’s automotive revenue reached $21.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, growing only 1% year-on-year.
But it’s Tesla’s prospects that are most concerning. The electric vehicle maker said vehicle sales growth in 2024 “will likely be significantly lower” than last year’s growth rate as it works to launch “next-generation vehicles” in Texas. The company warned investors it was “currently between two major growth waves.”
Tesla delivered 1.8 million vehicles in 2023.The company has been cutting prices in key global markets such as Europe and China as it faces increasing competition from Chinese companies BYD and traditional automakers. The price cuts put pressure on Tesla’s profit margins.
Several brokerages lowered their price targets for the company, with Barclays lowering its price target from $250 to $225, putting more pressure on Tesla’s stock.
“Things are not as bad as feared, but future doom and gloom exacerbates some of the current downside risks,” Bakali analysts wrote in a note Thursday.
RBC analysts lowered their price target to $297 from $300. Canaccord Genuity said in a report on Wednesday that it also lowered its price target to $234 from $267.
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
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