JPMorgan slashes Tesla stock price target

JPMorgan analysts have slashed their stock price target on Tesla to $195 from $308, back where it was before chief executive Elon Musk’s going-private tweet.

On Aug. 7, Musk tweeted that he is considering talking Tesla private for $420 – “funding secured.”

In communicating the downgrade, JPMorgan’s analysts wrote, “Our interpretation of subsequent events leads us to believe that funding was not secured for a going private transaction, nor was there any formal proposal.”

“Tesla does appear to be exploring a going private transaction, but we now believe that such a process appears much less developed than we had earlier presumed, suggesting formal incorporation into our valuation analysis seems premature at this time,” analyst Ryan Brinkman wrote in a client note.

JPMorgan analysts upped their forecast on Tesla from $198 to $308 when Tesla’s stock surged following Musk’s tweets. They have an underweight rating on the stock. The media price target of analysts covering Tesla is $336, according to Reuters.