Webush slashed its price target on TSLA by $400
The shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are 1.5% lower ahead of the opening bell, last seen trading at $699.49, after Wedbush lowered its price target by $400 to $1,000, but reiterated its "outperform" rating. The firm noted "hard to ignore" headwinds regarding Covid-related lockdowns in China, going on to say it expects a "modest delivery softness this quarter" despite Tesla last month predicting deliveries could grow as much as 60% for the year. Webush also cited the "circus show" of Tesla's CEO Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter (TWTR), which could prove to be a distraction risk during one of the worst supply chain disruptions ever seen.
High flying tech stocks have taken an especially brutal beating in the midst of some of the most aggressive interest rate hikes the U.S. Federal Reserve has issued in recent memory. Tesla stock, despite its historically strong fundamentals, is no exception, and is now saddled with a 32.8% year-to-date deficit. Trading well below its November 2021 all-time highs, TSLA now faces pressure from significant trendlines on the charts, with the 20-day moving average pressuring shares to an annual low of $680 earlier this month.
Regarding current analyst sentiment, the brokerage bunch was split on Tesla stock coming into today. Specifically, eight said "buy" or better, while 11 recommended a "hold" or worse. There's room for additional price target adjustments as well, as the 12-month consensus price target of $951.82 is a 34.1% premium to last night's close.
In the options pits, traders have moved in favor of puts in recent weeks. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), TSLA sports a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.07, which sits higher than 95% of readings from the past year. In other words, puts have been unusually popular of late.