Tesla (TSLA-2.96%) stock was falling yet again Monday, down more than 3% in morning trading as markets headed for another brutal day in the wake of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Even one of Tesla’s biggest fans on Wall Street is increasingly sounding the alarm about Elon Musk’s EV maker.
“Our long standing bull view of Tesla remains, but there is no denying this is a pivotal moment of truth for Musk to turn things around… or darker days are ahead,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note over the weekend. “We have been one of the biggest supporters of Musk and Tesla over the last decade…. but this situation is not sustainable and the brand of Tesla is suffering by the day as a political symbol.”
Wedbush slashed its price target on Tesla stock by about 42%, from $550 per share to $315. The stock was down more than 6% before markets opened Monday, but pared those losses to trade down 3.2% around mid-morning, to about $231 per share. Tesla stock has fallen almost 39% so far this year.
Musk was a major supporter of President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign and transitioned into becoming a senior White House adviser after Trump’s inauguration. He now leads DOGE, which pushes federal agencies to issue mass layoffs and enact other spending cuts, and has frequently weighed in on foreign politics.
Protests have been organized at Tesla showrooms and facilities across the country since Trump was inaugurated in January. Many peaceful demonstrations have taken place, including a slew of protests held on Sunday, such as a 300-person rally held at a Tesla showroom in Boston and another at a showroom in Vancouver, Washington.
But more than a dozen violent or destructive acts have been directed at the company’s facilities since the inauguration, according to The Washington Post, including one instance where an individual planted a Molotov cocktail near a vehicle. There have also been several reports of individual vehicles or Superchargers being vandalized.
Trump’s escalating trade war has complicated things further for Tesla, Ives said in his weekend note, pointing specifically to tariffs targeting China.
“The backlash from Trump tariff policies in China and Musk’s association will be hard to understate and this will further drive Chinese consumers to buy domestic such as BYD (BYDDY-5.41%), Nio (NIO-1.88%), Xpeng (XPEV-8.52%), and others,” Ives said. “Tesla has essentially become a political symbol globally… and that is a very bad thing for the future of this disruptive tech stalwart and the brand crisis tornado that has now turned into an F5 tornado. We now estimate Tesla has lost/destroyed at least 10% of its future customer base globally based on self created brand issues and this could be a conservative estimate. In Europe, this number could be 20% or higher….all self-inflicted by Musk.”
—William Gavin contributed to this article.
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