Goldman Sachs lowered the price target on Elon Musk’s Tesla, citing falling sales all over the world, coupled with souring consumer sentiment.
The brokerage firm maintained its neutral rating on Tesla and lowered the target price to $285.
This indicates a 0.10% upside from Thursday’s closing price.
Goldman Sachs’ price target is also below the average price target of $289.20 given by analysts polled by LSEG.
Other analysts cited Musk’s feud with US President Donald Trump as the reason for stock to be under pressure.
This downward revision reflects a growing apprehension within the investment bank regarding Tesla’s immediate future, driven by a confluence of weakening global delivery data, flagging consumer sentiment in key markets, and the specter of ongoing political controversies surrounding CEO Elon Musk.
Delivery in key geographies weakens
Analyst Mark Delaney wrote, “We’re lowering our Tesla vehicle delivery assumptions and EPS estimates to better reflect weaker monthly datapoints in key regions (e.g. China, the US, and Europe)”.
He noted that industry and registration data till May shows continued weakness in deliveries in key markets from the previous year.
According to the analyst, the data from the US is trending lower for April, while European sales saw a 50% decline from the previous year and an additional double-digit decline in May.
In Britain, Germany, and Italy, Tesla sales plunged for five straight months til May.
While the China sales in April and May showed a small increase, compared to the first two months of the year, it is still a 20% decline from the previous year, Delaney noted.
Spat with Trump wipes out $150 billion market value
Tesla’s shares fell 14% on Thursday, making it one of the company’s largest declines in a single trading session.
The move also wiped out $152 billion in investor wealth.
This dramatic decline was primarily attributed to a highly publicized and intensifying feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.
Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” – the tax-and-spending package that reportedly seeks to reduce tax credits for electric vehicles and solar installations, key drivers of Tesla’s business model – ignited a swift and volatile exchange on social media.
This political spat not only cast a shadow over Tesla’s policy environment, raising concerns about potential operational restrictions or the loss of government support, but also amplified investor anxieties regarding the stability and predictability of the company’s leadership.
Tesla shares recovered on Friday, gaining 5%.
Lower expectations for Q2
As a result of these compounding factors, Goldman Sachs has significantly revised its delivery assumptions for Tesla.
The bank now projects Q2 2025 deliveries to be 365,000 units, a notable reduction from their previous estimate of 410,000 and well below the Visible Alpha Consensus Data of 417,000.
Further, their revised annual delivery forecasts for 2025, 2026, and 2027 have also been lowered.
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