The phrase “Tesla recall” is probably getting pretty tiresome for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) owners these days. Not just owners of the electric cars, but owners of the stock as well. Another such recall recently emerged, and with it, Tesla stock went down slightly in Thursday afternoon trading. The latest recall targets just over 362,000 vehicles and focuses mainly on the beta-version full self-driving software. There’s a risk that the software may malfunction and cause a vehicle to crash.
A wide range of Tesla products are on the block over this, including Model S Teslas from between 2016 and 2023, the entire Model X line, Model 3s between 2017 and 2023, and Model Y vehicles from 2020 to 2023. For its part, Tesla disagreed with the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration’s (NHTSA) assessment that said a recall was necessary, to begin with. However, Tesla ultimately agreed to a voluntary recall.
Recalls are nothing new for Tesla. Back in November, around 30,000 Teslas were recalled over issues with airbag deployment. In December, 435,000 Chinese Teslas faced trouble over side marker lights. Tesla “recalls” aren’t exactly recalls, as they mostly just involve an over-the-air software update. However, they still prompt concern over how reliable the Tesla brand is. Further, given that several features of Full Self-Driving Beta are still unfinished, more of these updates are likely to hit in the coming days.
Regardless, Wall Street is cautiously optimistic. Currently, analyst consensus calls Tesla stock a Moderate Buy. However, it also comes with 4.1% downside risk, thanks to its average price target of $202.46.
