JP Morgan cuts price target on Tesla shares

After weeks of downturns on Tesla J.P. Morgan has lowered its price target on Tesla’s stock. This is mainly because the company thinks that fewer cars will be delivered for the second year in a row. Analysts also say that current and possibly new customers are feeling differently about the electric vehicle maker.

JP Morgan also lowered its price target for the electric car company’s shares from $135 to $120. Data shows that the middle price goal for the stock is $370. In addition, the firm said that Tesla will deliver about 1.78 million cars this year, which is about 1% less than in 2024.

There have been reactions toward the brand such as protests at Tesla stores across the U.S. and around the world, sales boycotts, and jettisoning already purchased vehicles in the second-hand market. 

Protesters have recently held what they call “Tesla Takedown” events to show their displeasure with Elon Musk’s role in cutting the size of the U.S. government workforce and canceling contracts that would have helped fund humanitarian efforts around the world.

Tesla’s stock has dropped since December when it hit an all-time high. This took away most of the gains the stock made after Trump won the election in November. Since Monday, when it fell 15.4%, the stock has gone up 10%. 

Trump is blaming protestors for Tesla’s fall, but analysts think otherwise

Trump asked in front of the White House whether such protesters should be labeled as domestic terrorists. He said, “You do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you and you’re going to go through hell.” 

Trump also sat in the driver’s seat of a brand new red Tesla that he said he planned to buy, with Musk in the passenger seat, but did not test drive it.

On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump blamed Tesla’s share price falls on “radical left lunatics,” who he said were trying to illegally and collusively boycott the company.

However, stock analysts said the main reason for the shares’ poor performance was fear about Tesla meeting production targets and a drop in sales over the past year.

An investment strategist at Quilter Investors named Lindsay James said that the drop in share price had more than one cause. She said that Elon Musk’s political views had an element of a brand impact.

She said that the drop was ultimately caused by hard numbers. Tesla is not the only one affected. When you look at new orders, for example, in Europe and China, you can see that they’ve effectively halved over the last year.

This year, sales have dropped a lot in Europe. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) says that sales were 45% lower in January than the same month in 2024 across the whole continent. In addition, China, which is a key market, and Australia have also seen sharp drops.

Some experts say Tesla is overvalued and that the drop is just a correction. Others say that some Chinese electric car companies are becoming more of a threat. Not to forget that people are certainly getting more worried about an economic slowdown too, so the richest-valued companies like Tesla have been hit hardest in recent days.

People have also said they think Musk doesn’t pay enough attention to his businesses. On Tuesday, he said about how “with great difficulty” he was running his businesses and being DOGE at the same time. In addition to Tesla, he also runs the social media network X and the company SpaceX, whose last two launches of its huge Starship rocket have failed horribly. On Monday, X went down. 

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