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Tesla shares opened 4% lower today as they reversed course after a relief rally on Friday. March has been a devastating month for the shares as investors fret about the firm’s 2025 vehicle deliveries and multiple analysts revise the firm’s share price target downward. Tesla’s latest price target coverage came from investment bank Mizuho, which reduced the target to $413 from an earlier $515 but kept an Outperform rating on the stock. The firm also cut the firm’s smaller peer Rivian’s target to $11 from $13 as it cited tariff uncertainties for Rivian’s business operations.
Tesla Sinks At Market Open As Delivery Worries Continue To Haunt Analysts
Despite being down 4% at market open, the stock pared back some of its losses and was trading 2.7% lower roughly 15 minutes after markets opened. The stock dipped after a bearish analyst note from Mizuho that lowered Tesla’s share price target to $413 from $515. The shares opened at $244 earlier today, and Mizuho, like its peers, reduced Tesla’s delivery estimates for 2025 and 2026.
As was the case with others, the investment bank cited geopolitics and brand recognition issues as some of the reasons behind its downgrade. The analyst report came after Reuters reported that Tesla is seeking to gain market share with its assisted driving platform, Full Self Driving, in China. Separate reports have suggested a price cut in China as Musk’s firm aims to compete in the toughest electric vehicle market in the world.
As investors settled in for the day’s early trading hours, Tesla’s stock continued its erratic behavior. It sank to 3.3% in the red roughly twenty minutes after trading opened. At the same time, the S&P 500 was flat to imply that the stock continued to lag the benchmark index.
Mizuho’s analyst note was nothing but bearish. In it, analyst Vijay Rakesh highlights that the firm’s February sales in some of its biggest regions, namely the US, European Union, and China, “significantly underperformed the market.” Specifically, Rakesh outlines that Tesla’s US sales fell by 2% while its China and Germany sales dipped by a devastating 49% and 72%, respectively.
As for the reasons behind the sales dip, Rakesh believes that the woes are a result of “a deterioration in geopolitics, brand perception (US/EU), share loss due to stronger competition (China), and softer-than-expected demand for the Model Y refresh.“
Consequently, Mizuho has reduced Tesla’s 2025 and 2026 delivery estimates by a strong 500,000 and 600,000, respectively. Other recent Tesla share price downgrades have come from firms such as Guggenheim and Evercore ISI. Both have reduced the firm’s delivery estimates as consensus builds on Wall Street for Tesla’s market problems. The firm’s shares had pared back some of the losses again after the first half hour of trading ended and were down by 3%.
