Tesla Faces Tough Q1 Setup, Analyst Michaeli Cautions

Citigroup's Itay Michaeli lowered their price target on Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) by 12.5% from $224 to $196 on March 27, 2024. The analyst maintained their Hold rating on the stock.

Heading into Tesla's Q1 2024 delivery report, Michaeli cautioned investors about the company's Q1 setup, stating that it "looks tough on aggressive consensus estimates." The analyst also lowered their Q1 delivery forecast for Tesla from 473,300 to 429,900, reflecting recent data points. Michaeli argued that despite the stock coming down in recent weeks, the Street's estimates for FY 2024 and FY 2025 are still too high, given the disappointing data from March 2024.

According to the latest ratings, 66.7% of top-rated analysts currently rate TSLA as a Strong Buy or Buy, while 33.3% see it as a Hold. No analysts recommend or strongly recommend selling the stock.

The consensus forecast among analysts is that Tesla's upcoming year will deliver earnings per share (EPS) of $5.43. If the analysts' predictions hold true, TSLA's next yearly EPS will be up by 14.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Since Tesla's last quarterly report on December 31, 2023, the stock price has declined by 27.6%. Year-over-year, the stock is down 6.2%. During this period, TSLA has underperformed the S&P 500, which is down 32%.

It is worth noting that Citigroup analyst Itay Michaeli is ranked by WallStreetZen in the bottom 1% out of 4,527 Wall Street analysts, with an average return of -24.4% and a 36.6% win rate. Michaeli specializes in the Consumer Cyclical and Industrials sectors, among others.

Tesla, Inc. is a company that designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, as well as energy generation and storage systems. The company operates in two segments, Automotive and Energy Generation and Storage. Tesla's Automotive segment offers electric vehicles and automotive regulatory credits, while also providing after-sales vehicle services, used vehicle sales, and retail merchandise. The Energy Generation and Storage segment focuses on solar energy generation, energy storage products, and related services for residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

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