Tesla ‘s dramatic decline has started to catch the eye of some Wall Street firms that were previously skeptical of the stock, including Edward Jones. Analyst Jeff Windau upgraded Tesla to buy from hold during Thursday’s trading session, saying in a note to clients that the stock now looks cheap in the context of Tesla’s long-term growth prospects. “While slowing economic growth could pressure near-term auto sales, we believe the electric vehicle (EV) market will continue to expand due to global regulations. We believe Tesla’s new product launches will allow it to take advantage of this expanding market. In our opinion, the share price of Tesla does not reflect its long-term growth opportunities,” the note said. Windau cited potential improvements to Tesla’s full-self driving feature and batteries as growth drivers for the company. Shares of Tesla were down more than 2% in afternoon trading despite the upgrade. The automaker’s stock has started 2023 in a downtrend after falling 65% last year. While rising interest rates were seen as a significant factor in the stock’s decline in 2022, some investors are now worried about customer demand for Tesla. TSLA 5D mountain Tesla’s stock has fallen in the first week of 2023. On Monday, the company reported weaker-than-expected deliveries for the fourth quarter, even though they hit a new record. The stock fell more than 12% on Tuesday before clawing back some of those losses on Wednesday. Tesla’s struggles in recent months have also come as CEO Elon Musk sold a large chunk of his personal stake in the company, in part to finance his takeover of social media platform Twitter. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
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