Tesla Motor shares nose dive 7%; still above analysts’ target price

NEW YORK — Tesla, Inc. shares slid more than 7% on Wednesday, their biggest percentage decline in more than a year, on poorerthan-expected delivery numbers, yet the luxury electric car maker’s stock price remained above analysts’ median target.

Silicon Valley- based Tesla overtook General Motors in April to become the US car maker with the largest market capitalization.

On Wednesday, its shares fell 7.2% to $327.09, its lowest in more than a month. Its biggest daily percentage fall since June 22, 2016, followed a 2.5% decline on Monday, when first-half deliveries of Tesla electric sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) came in the lower end of its forecast.

Tesla said a “severe shortfall” of new battery packs had constrained vehicle manufacturing, and said second- half deliveries of the Model S sedan and Model X SUV should exceed those of the first half.

“We see Tesla shares as an overvalued show- me story that has traded as a concept stock given the dislocation between share price performance and our/ consensus estimates,” analysts at Cowen and Company said in a note.

Even after the sharp losses, Tesla shares remained up about 53% this year.

Even after the two-day slide, the stock remained about 7% above the median price target of $309.50. Less than 20 S&P 500 Index constituents can top that.

On average, S& P 500 stocks trade between 7% and 9% below the Street’s target, according to Thomson Reuters data.

While Tesla has been trading above the median target price for months, that margin mushroomed in June with the stock trading as much as 25% above the median target.

Some 14 of the 21 analysts who cover Tesla have a sell or hold rating on the shares.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group-owned Volvo said all car models it launches after 2019 will be electric or hybrids, making it the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine.

While the Volvo announcement could be seen as validation for Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s vision, it also highlights the intense competition Tesla is likely to face, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said in a research note.

On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs cut its six-month price target on Tesla to $180 from $190. Andrew Left of short seller Citron Research told CNBC in a phone interview that he thinks that is fair in the short term. —