Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 14.5% Following Weak Earnings

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 14.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $315.73 and last traded at $319.69. Approximately 114,492,156 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 101% from the average session volume of 56,858,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $374.01.

The electric vehicle producer reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $28.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.42 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 3.88% and a net margin of 3.67%.Tesla’s quarterly revenue was up 25.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS.

Tesla News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tesla reported record quarterly revenue of $28.24 billion, up 25.5% year over year, and delivered a record number of vehicles, showing the core business is still growing. Tesla Q2 Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted progress in autonomous driving, Robotaxi expansion, Optimus production, and FSD adoption, which keeps the long-term AI and robotics story alive for bullish investors. Reuters Robotaxi Update
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts still see upside from the company’s autonomy strategy and reaffirmed Buy/Hold ratings, but several also cut price targets after the earnings call, signaling a more cautious stance. Analyst Price Target Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Tesla missed EPS estimates, posted negative free cash flow for the first time in more than two years, and confirmed about $25 billion in full-year capex, raising concerns that heavy AI/robotics spending is squeezing near-term profits and liquidity. Reuters Cash Burn and Capex
• Negative Sentiment: Investor reaction also turned more negative because Elon Musk emphasized spending “as fast as we can” on AI and gave few near-term details on Robotaxi timing, which made the growth story look more like a long-dated promise than an immediate profit driver. MarketWatch Investor Reaction

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial set a $370.00 price target on Tesla and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Tesla from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $385.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $406.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,147,700. This trade represents a 14.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 26,409 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.11, for a total value of $9,985,506.99. Following the sale, the director directly owned 48,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,300,145.89. This represents a 35.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,015 shares of company stock worth $12,383,640. Insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Networth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Tesla in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Davidson Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Tesla by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 61 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial lifted its position in Tesla by 66.7% during the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 75 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Prism Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 296.01, a P/E/G ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $402.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $403.16.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean‑energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery‑electric vehicles and related services.