Investors reel as Musk indulges quirks
Analyst cuts Tesla’s rating after criticizing his ‘erratic’ behavior
The behavior of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is having more of an impact on Wall Street’s view of the company, as another analyst has come out with a critical opinion of the actions of the man who is the face of the iconic electric-car maker.
On Tuesday, Nomura Instinet analyst Romit Shah cut his rating on Tesla to neutral from buy, and slashed his target price on the company’s stock to $300 a share from $400. But what was probably more notable than Shah’s lowering his rating and stock price were some of his comments about the state of Musk’s leadership of Tesla.
In a research note titled, “No Longer Investable,” Shah said the biggest issue facing Tesla is the “erratic behavior” of Musk, which Shah said could be “tainting the Tesla brand.” Shah mentioned some of Musk’s actions in recent months—such as last week’s appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast in which Musk’s smoked a cigarette that Rogan said was laced with marijuana—as damaging to the most valuable asset Tesla has, its brand.
“The only comparable to Tesla’s brand recognition is Apple, in our view,” Shah said. “What Apple taught us is that, once brand recognition is established, consumer
behavior can begin to deviate from traditional economics in ways that benefit the company immensely.”
Shah’s view of Tesla came a week after Goldman Sachs analyst David Tamberrino said he expects Tesla’s share price to fall by more than 30 percent over the next six months. Tesla shares closed Tuesday with a loss of 2.1 percent at $279.44
Shah said Musk’s actions are taking attention away from Tesla’s business, which he said is set up well for future growth, but that growth could be affected by Musk’s behavior. “Tesla is positioned to deliver unprecedented revenue growth and accrue substantial profits,” Shah said, citing the company saying it’s on track to more than double deliveries of cars in the third quarter to more
than 80,000 vehicles. Shah also said he expects Tesla’s revenue to reach $22 billion in 2018, up from $12 billion last year.
Still, Shah said that until Musk tones down his erratic behavior, or the company finds a new CEO, it might be time to avoid Tesla stock as an investment.
“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,” Shah said.
Separately, Musk said Tesla would drop two of its standard seven car colors as part of an effort to streamline vehicle production.