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One of Wall Street’s most bearish Tesla analysts further reduced estimates for the company’s earnings, citing the magnitude of car-buyer backlash against Elon Musk.
Tesla’s first-quarter vehicle deliveries were far below even JPMorgan Chase & Co analyst Ryan Brinkman’s pessimistic estimate, “confirming the unprecedented brand damage we had earlier feared,” he said in a report Friday.
The sales report “causes us to think that — if anything — we may have underestimated the degree of consumer reaction,” Brinkman wrote.
Tesla shares fell more than 5 percent before the start of regular trading Friday. The stock has slumped 44 percent since hitting a record high on December 17.
Tesla delivered 336 681 vehicles in the first three months of the year, its worst quarterly total since 2022. In addition to changing over production lines at each of its assembly plants to build the redesigned Model Y, the automaker was contending with Musk, its chief executive officer, becoming a more polarizing figure due to his interventions in global politics.
JPMorgan now expects Tesla’s first-quarter earnings to slip to 36 cents a share, short of its previous projection of 40 cents and analysts’ average estimate of 46 cents.
Brinkman also trimmed his full-year projection to US$2,30 a share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are on average estimating the company will earn US$2,70 per share — and Brinkman notes that this figure has dropped 17 percent since Tesla last reported quarterly earnings in late January. – Bloomberg
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