Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 1.8% on Analyst Downgrade

01 Apr 2026, 22:18 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report)’s share price dropped 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The company traded as low as $352.14 and last traded at $355.28. Approximately 66,430,741 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 61,301,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $361.83.

TSLA has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $307.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Tesla from $313.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Tesla from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, China Renaissance boosted their price objective on Tesla from $380.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $403.98.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on TSLA

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.03, for a total transaction of $898,875.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,188,625.18. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 25,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.56, for a total value of $10,692,774.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,173,649.64. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 87,995 shares of company stock worth $38,315,650. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Tesla News

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

Positive Sentiment: Elon Musk said Tesla’s newest Full Self-Driving (FSD) version could launch “probably” this week, supporting optimism about autonomous-software monetization and upside beyond car sales. Newest Version Of Tesla FSD ‘Probably’ Launching This Week, Elon Musk Says
Positive Sentiment: European sales are showing a rebound: French registrations more than tripled in March and other European markets (Nordics, Spain) posted strong gains — a clear near-term sales upside. Tesla French car registrations triple in March
Positive Sentiment: CEO announcements about a “big” investment in Japan to expand service infrastructure and Superchargers were cited as a catalyst for midday gains, improving serviceability and addressable market. Why Tesla (TSLA) Stock Is Up Today
Neutral Sentiment: The company is due to report Q1 delivery totals early Thursday — Wall Street expects roughly 365–366k units — making this the primary near-term catalyst that could swing sentiment both ways. Tesla Stock Rises Ahead of Delivery Numbers. Brace for Volatility.
Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market volatility may also affect TSLA: headlines around President Trump’s Iran speech and broader futures action could amplify intraday moves. Dow Jones Futures Await Trump’s Iran War Speech; Tesla Set To Reclaim EV Crown
Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded TSLA to a “Strong Sell” and trimmed near-term EPS estimates, a formal analyst headwind that can pressure sentiment and flows. Zacks Research Downgrades Tesla
Negative Sentiment: Reports (and some models) expect Q1 deliveries to dip sequentially as EV demand softens in parts of Tesla’s footprint — weaker delivery prints would be a clear negative. Tesla Q1 deliveries likely dip sequentially as EV demand softens
Negative Sentiment: Competition is heating: rivals like Nio reported very strong March delivery growth, underscoring market-share pressure in key markets. Watch Out Tesla ― NIO March Deliveries Surged 136%

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $17,128,100,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 3,205.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,459,599 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,650,811,000 after purchasing an additional 20,810,386 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Tesla by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,755,605 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $9,334,211,000 after purchasing an additional 7,450,766 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Tesla by 882.8% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,202,060 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,688,630,000 after purchasing an additional 7,367,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,925,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $116,443,762,000 after purchasing an additional 6,538,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $405.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.65. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 353.02, a PEG ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 1.89.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. Tesla had a return on equity of 4.86% and a net margin of 4.00%.The business had revenue of $24.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Tesla

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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.