Another Leading US Bank Downgraded Tesla Stock Last Week

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Last Updated on: 18th March 2025, 10:14 am

JP Morgan made a big splash in the media spotlight last week when it downgraded Tesla’s stock to $120. JP Morgan was not the only leading US bank to wave a big red flag over Tesla’s prospects for turning its weeks-long slump around. In a less-reported move, last week, Wells Fargo also did some trimming around the edges to arrive at a price point of $130. The financial firms UBS and Redburn Atlantic piled on as well.

When Will Tesla Stock Go Up Again?

JP Morgan and all three other firms were vindicated on March 17, when Tesla stock slid by almost 5% while the overall market went up.

As reported by MSN, a Wells Fargo analyst was already calling it low earlier this month at $135. On March 10, the 12-month goalpost shifted down to $130. As of March 10, the Wall Street average stood at $372. What does Wells Fargo think, or know, that others don’t?

MSN cites a CNBC report quoting the analyst, who indicated that his firm was taking note of warning flares last year, and nobody from Tesla came to douse them out. As of March 10, the stock was down 40% from the beginning of the year, and Wells Fargo’s new analysis put it down another 40%.

“Tesla is on track for its eighth straight weekly loss [update: make that going on nine], the longest losing streak since it went public in 2010. In Europe, the company’s January sales fell 45%,” MSN noted.

“The problem is bigger than just weak demand,” MSN observed. You don’t say? Tesla sales in Europe and sales in the US also took a dive, on the heels of CEO Elon Musk’s self-outing as an uncontrollable megalomaniac straight from the James Bond bad guy formula, but with a small child as a prop instead of a fluffy cat.

UBS Casts Stinkeye On Tesla Stock

If some analysts were reluctant to bet against Tesla stock last year, 2025 is a different story. UBS, for example, is among those acknowledging the future Tesla as a robots-and-robotaxis tech enterprise, not just another automaker in a crowded field. However, UBS is more interested in the here and now. On March 10, the firm reiterated its sell guidance on Tesla stock, reportedly concerned over weakening demand for the Model 3 and Model Y.

UBS was more optimistic than Wells Fargo or JP Morgan, lowering its share price target from $259 to a relatively healthy $225.

They may have to recalculate, considering how ready the competition is to snatch up EV-curious car buyers who would have bought a Tesla but now won’t touch the brand with a 10-foot pole. Last week the famously EV-hesitant automaker Toyota, for example, just introduced three new BEVs to the European market and teased plans for more.

It’s not just Europe and the US, either. Multiple analysts have taken note of a sales drop in Australia and China, where the China Passenger Car Association is keeping track.

What Says Redburn Atlantic?

Redburn Atlantic is not exactly a household name, but the equity analysis firm is familiar in financial circles. “Redburn Atlantic specialises in providing the best industrial and financial insight and offering timely and commercial recommendations,” the firm says of itself.

“This accounts for its top ranking with some of the largest and most demanding European and US institutions,” they add.

On March 10, the firm turned its industrial and financial microscope onto Tesla stock and concluded that a target price of $160 was in order.

According to news reports, analysts at the firm were concerned over stagnating sales activity and a similarly gloomy circumstance exhibited by vehicle registration data, indicating weak demand. The whackadoodle trade wars sparked by the dictator-adjacent Commander-in-Chief who occupies the White House also factored into Redburn Atlantic’s analysis.

Investing.com was among those citing a Redburn Atlantic analyst who said, “We foresee another year of stalled volumes without an imminent new vehicle launch. Sluggish registration data to-date may flag a lingering demand challenge.”

Tesla Stock: When You’ve Lost Mizuho Group …

As recently as January 31, the Japan-based global financial firm Mizuho Group went on record with a thumbs up for Tesla, noting that the company’s “gross margins and profitability are ahead of everyone’s.”

Mizuho Group is still among those continuing to see a way forward for Tesla stock, but the window is closing. On Monday, March 17, the company arrived at a share price of $430, which sounds good on paper but it’s off the cliff from the firm’s previous target of $515.

In addition to fallout from those pesky tariffs, Mizuho cited competition in China.

And, how. Last week, CleanTechnica editor Zachary Shahan took a look at the Tesla sales situation in China and cited China Passenger Car Association CEO Cui Dongshu, who advised Musk to save the Goldfinger act for private audiences and just go back to selling cars like a normal automaker.

“As a successful businessman, one should be embracing 100% of the market: treat everyone nicely, and everyone will be nice in return. But if you look at it in terms of voting, then half of voters will be friendly to you and half of them won’t be. This is the unavoidable risk that’s come after he [Elon Musk] got his personal glory.”

Now, About That FSD …

Mary Barra and Jim Farley could give Musk some tips on treating everyone nicely. All he has to do is pick up the phone and … nah. He’s too busy.

Meanwhile, even Tesla’s most cult-clinging fans are beginning to realize that they will never get to live the dream of hiring out their personal cars as full self-driving robotaxis while they sit around the house watching teevee or whatever.

CleanTechnica’s Steve Hanley took a #fail dive into Tesla’s camera-dependent FSD technology over the weekend, but you can still fool some of the people some of the time. As of this writing, Tesla is aiming to prop up its sales in China by offering a free month of FSD, among other price and loan adjustments tailored for the Chinese market.

On Tuesday morning, Investor’s Business Daily did take note of a pickup in Tesla registrations in China, though that aligned with seasonal increases among other automakers there.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to keep Tesla from slinking further into a ninth straight week of losses. In an update posted at 8:10 AM, IBD noted that Tesla stock was already down another 3% in premarket trading.

As of 9:40 this morning, it was down almost 6%…

Photo (cropped): Well Fargo piles on as BMW and other EV makers cut into Tesla’s EV sales advantage, contributing to an 8+-week losing streak for Tesla stock (courtesy of BMW group).