Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 9th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $475.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Yorkville Ives began coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $408.61.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $372.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $364.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $377.39. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 409.04, a P/E/G ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 1.92. Tesla has a 52 week low of $297.38 and a 52 week high of $498.83.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. Tesla had a return on equity of 3.03% and a net margin of 3.11%. The company had revenue of $28.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Tesla’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Tesla will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.13, for a total value of $938,498.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,353,296.36. This trade represents a 9.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 20.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Tesla by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 117,456,756 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $49,402,312,000 after buying an additional 2,761,298 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,535,612,000. Amundi grew its stake in Tesla by 14.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,174,884 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $8,243,513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,141 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,083,630,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY boosted its holdings in Tesla by 5.0% in the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 12,524,752 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $5,267,911,000 after purchasing an additional 591,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Tesla

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tesla beat third-quarter adjusted earnings expectations, reporting $0.48 per share versus the $0.45 consensus estimate, and generated approximately $1.5 billion in positive free cash flow. Tesla Surpasses Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Paid Full Self-Driving adoption exceeded 75% of North American deliveries, with subscriptions increasing 67% year over year. Investors view FSD, robotaxis, Optimus robots, and Megapack energy storage as potential long-term growth engines. Tesla’s FSD Subscriptions Surge
• Positive Sentiment: European sales reportedly strengthened, while Tesla is expanding its Cybercab robotaxi program beyond Austin and developing AI-based mapping from fleet data. These developments support the company’s autonomy narrative, although commercialization remains early. Tesla Europe Sales Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Elon Musk called a SpaceX-Tesla merger a “good idea,” and both companies reportedly formed special committees to study a combination. Potential benefits include shared work in AI, chips, robotics, connectivity, and energy, but no transaction is certain. SpaceX-Tesla Merger Chatter
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain divided: Morgan Stanley raised its target to $410 with an equal-weight rating, while RBC maintained an outperform rating and a $480 target. Bullish forecasts depend heavily on successful autonomy and robotics execution.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was essentially flat year over year at about $28 billion, automotive revenue fell 3%, energy-generation and storage revenue declined 16%, and GAAP operating income dropped 56%. Refunds and other factors also clouded the reported margin improvement. Tesla Automotive and Energy Revenue Results
• Negative Sentiment: Tesla reduced its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook from more than $25 billion to approximately $20 billion after third-quarter spending trailed expectations. Investors worry the pullback could delay AI, robotics, and robotaxi ambitions. Tesla Spending Pullback
• Negative Sentiment: Tesla will refund Cybertruck deposits in Australia and New Zealand, signaling reduced regional ambitions for the troubled vehicle. Regulatory scrutiny of the Cybercab and delays in unsupervised FSD add further execution risk.
• Negative Sentiment: The broader Nasdaq sell-off, renewed doubts about AI spending returns, higher oil prices, and geopolitical tensions have pressured high-valuation technology stocks, including TSLA.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc is an electric vehicle and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003, the company designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, including the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y and Cybertruck. Tesla also develops vehicle software, driver-assistance features and related services intended to support the operation and ownership of its vehicles.

Beyond automobiles, Tesla produces energy storage products for residential, commercial and utility-scale applications, including the Powerwall and Megapack.