Tesla Shares Could Drop to $10, Says Morgan Stanley
Fortune Fortune•May 21, 2019
Tesla shares could drop as low as $10, Morgan Stanley analysts predicted
Tuesday.
The investment firm has lowered its bear forecast for the automaker from $97
to $10 per share, saying it was worried about Chinese demand for the
company’s products.
“Our revised bear case assumes Tesla misses our current Chinese volume
forecast by roughly half to account for the highly volatile trade situation
in the region, particularly around areas of technology, which we believe run
a high and increasing risk of government/regulatory attention,” said
analyst Adam Jonas in a note to investors.
The $10 per share mark is an extreme example and well below the company’s
current trade level, which is over $200 per share in mid-morning trading
Tuesday. It does, however, show increasing concerns among investors.
Bear models from investment firms look at worst case scenarios and are not
predictions of performance under normal circumstances. Morgan Stanley’s “
base-case” target remains $230 a share.
Jonas also cited Tesla’s debt load as a factor in his change in the worst
case model. The company recently secured $521 million in loans from Chinese
banks.
China is an important market for the automaker. It’s building a $5 billion
factory in the country which will allow it to bypass shipping costs and make
Tesla vehicles more affordable to Chinese consumers.
The country has also been a drag on the stock, though. Shares plunged
earlier this month amide fears that China’s tariff retaliation would soon
hit cars, affecting Tesla’s bottom line.
Tesla’s stock was down just shy of 2% in trading Tuesday.
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