It’s good news mixed with a little concern today for electric vehicle stock Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). It managed to successfully pass what might have been a serious legal challenge, but there are some broader market concerns lurking in the background to contend with as well. All of this isn’t dampening investors’ spirits much, however, as Tuesday afternoon’s trading saw shares up over 2%.
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The big win for Tesla today saw it win the first trial in the United States focused on its Autopilot system. The allegations claimed that the Autopilot system directly contributed to a death, but a jury rejected that claim. In that case, two passengers involved in a crash back in 2019 accused Tesla of knowing that Autopilot was inherently defective when it sold them the Tesla in question. Tesla, meanwhile, argued that it was human error, not Autopilot, that mattered here. This is actually the second time that Tesla has been in court over its Autopilot system, and the second time it has successfully walked away from said trial.
But all has not been so rosy for Tesla of late. Just yesterday, Tesla shares plunged in light of reports that Panasonic (OTHEROTC:PCRFY)—a major Tesla supplier—was cutting back on production for automotive batteries.Why? Because it foresees trouble with electric car sales, and therefore, battery demand. While there are certainly other uses for electric vehicle batteries, like home power supply, those uses are comparatively light against electric vehicles. And even Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, was recently spotted saying that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policies were likely to lead to a decline in electric vehicle savings as the cost of a loan soars.
What is the Target Price for Tesla?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 16 Buys, 11 Holds and six Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TSLA price target of $251.32 per share implies 24.31% upside potential.
