What happened
Shares of Tesla (TSLA 2.70%) jumped on Tuesday, rising as much as 8.1%. As of 1:45 p.m. EDT, however, the stock was up about 5%. The stock's rise notably comes as the broader market is trading lower. The S&P 500 is down nearly 1% at the time of this writing.
Shares of the electric-car maker were likely up due to an analyst's decision to reiterate an outperform rating for the stock.
Image source: Tesla.
So what
On Tuesday, JMP Securities analyst Joseph Osha lowered his 12-month price target on Tesla stock to $840. This is down from a $1,060 12-month price target previously. But Osha kept an outperform rating on the stock. An $840 12-month price target represents about 60% upside from where shares are trading at the time of this writing.
The lowered 12-month price target reflects a more negative near-term outlook due to COVID-19's impact on the company. Osha reduced his forecast for total Tesla vehicle production in 2020 by 90,000 units, but left his outlook for vehicle production and deliveries in 2021 unchanged.
Now what
For the full year of 2020, Tesla had guided for total vehicle deliveries to exceed 500,000 units, up from about 368,000 in 2019. But with vehicle production at Tesla's factory in Fremont paused due to the coronavirus outbreak, management may lower its guidance for the year.
Investors will get their first update on 2020 deliveries when Tesla reports first-quarter deliveries in the next few days. The company could use the update on deliveries as an opportunity to lower its outlook.
