RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak cut his price target on shares of Tesla Inc. to $225 from $325, though he stayed bullish on the stock in a note to clients published late Wednesday. Tesla shares “will likely remain under pressure as gross margin expectations re-calibrate, but once this occurs, we see a compelling case for TSLA to still drive earnings/FCF [free-cash flow] higher as the low cost leader and leveraging opex,” he wrote, referring to operating expenses. He wrote of a “compelling mid-term risk/reward skew” for Tesla. Spak noted that fears about demand, pricing, automotive gross margins, and Chief Executive Elon Musk’s Twitter distractions are “valid concerns,” but he thinks that “the narrative of TSLA as the best positioned EV maker,” as well as one that can deliver “meaningful” free-cash flow, will come back into focus during 2023. Shares are down more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday. Musk disclosed the recent sale of roughly $3.6 billion in Tesla stock late Wednesday.
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