Elon Musk’s Tesla sales outlook has taken a turn for the worse, with two prominent analysts now predicting a decline in EV deliveries for 2024.
According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Alexander Potter of Piper Sandler expects Tesla’s deliveries to slip 0.5 percent to just under 1.8 million vehicles in 2024. Similarly, Philippe Houchois of Jefferies foresees a roughly three percent drop to 1.77 million vehicles. This gloomy outlook comes on the heels of Tesla’s disappointing first-quarter delivery numbers, which missed consensus estimates by the biggest margin ever in Bloomberg data going back seven years. This is particularly startling because Tesla has boasted about massive sales growth as the most prominent EV maker in the country.
The analysts cite slowing growth as a major concern for the electric vehicle maker. “Growth is slowing, and there’s no quick fix,” Potter wrote in his April 9 report. He believes that Tesla should be able to overcome demand issues by 2026, anticipating a lower-cost vehicle, scaled-up production of the Cybertruck, and more than half his price target stems from bullishness on the company’s driver-assistance software.
Houchois, on the other hand, is relatively pessimistic about Tesla’s ability to deliver on its self-driving ambitions. “Unveiling a robotaxi on Aug. 8 may help sentiment but not address the time frame and investment needed to render the technology and business model viable,” he said in a note to clients Wednesday. Jefferies cut its full-year earnings estimates by about 30 percent and its revenue projection by 15 percent.
The analysts’ concerns are reflected in their price target cuts, with Potter lowering his to $205 and Houchois reducing his to $165. Tesla’s shares have been under pressure this year, down 29 percent despite a recent rally sparked by CEO Elon Musk’s announcement of a date to reveal a robotaxi, a project he has teased at least as far back as 2016.
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.