Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Tesla continued with its losing streak on Tuesday, going down $11.32, or 3.96% to change hands at $274.30 as of 12:55 p.m. New York time.
The fall came after Nomura Instinet analysts downgraded shares of the electric-car maker to $300, citing the erratic behavior of its CEO Elon Musk.
Nomura Instinet dropped its rating for Tesla shares from “buy” to “neutral”, saying that the automaker is likely to be affected by the negative behavior that Musk has portrayed in recent months.
Romit Shah, an analyst at Nomura Instinet said, “We have been one of the most bullish on TSLA shares since initiating coverage last October…We continue to believe that Tesla could be a lot bigger than it is today. The issue though is the erratic behavior of CEO Elon Musk.”
Shah continued, “During the second quarter, the switch seemingly flipped…We are worried that this behavior is tainting the Tesla brand, which in terms of value is most important. Notwithstanding improving fundamentals, we believe that Tesla is in need of better leadership (an about face) and are moving to the sidelines until we see what happens with management.”
Mr. Musk has remained on the spotlight for numerous wrong reasons in the past few months, a trend that has investors worried. Last week, the South Africa-born billionaire hit headlines after a video surfaced of him smoking what appeared to be a joint of marijuana during an interview with Joe Rogan.
The video emerged only weeks after the CEO shocked Wall Street after tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share. He later backpedaled saying that the board of directors of the Palo Alto-based company had convinced him to call off the plan.
TSLA stock has lost more than 20% in the past month and slumped 8% since the beginning of the year.
Tesla Inc. Company Profile
Tesla, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, Norway, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage.
The Automotive segment offers sedans and sport utility vehicles. It also provides electric vehicle powertrain components and systems to other manufacturers; and services for electric vehicles through its company-owned service centers, Service Plus locations, and Tesla mobile technicians. This segment sells its products through a network of company-owned stores and galleries.
The Energy Generation and Storage segment offers energy storage products, such as rechargeable lithium-ion battery systems for use in homes, commercial facilities, and utility grids; designs, manufactures, installs, maintains, leases, and sells solar energy systems to residential and commercial customers. It also sells renewable energy to residential and commercial customers.
The company was formerly known as Tesla Motors, Inc. and changed its name to Tesla, Inc. in February 2017. Tesla, Inc. was founded by Elon Musk, Jeffrey B. Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, and Martin Eberhard on 2003. Its headquarters in Palo Alto, California. –YahooFinance
