The car stock has closed lower in nine of the last 10 days
Morgan Stanley slashed its bear forecast on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) to $10 from $97, saying the downwardly revised worst-case scenario assumes a major miss for "Chinese volume forecast ... to account for the highly volatile trade situation in the region, particularly around areas of technology, which we believe run a high and increasing risk of government/regulatory attention." However, analyst Adam Jonas maintained his $230 price target for Tesla -- a nearly 12% premium to last night's close at $205.36.
Baird also chimed in on Tesla overnight, cutting its target price for the stock to $340 from $400, still in territory not charted since late January. In reaction, TSLA shares are down 2.9% in electronic trading, set to open the session below the $200 mark.
It's already been a rough stretch for the equity, which has closed lower in nine of the past 10 sessions -- due in part to a series of fundamental follies, including CEO Elon Musk's cash flow warning and Autopilot issues -- and bottomed at a two-year low of $195.25 yesterday. Year-to-date, TSLA is down 38.3%.
As such, the car stock is at risk of more price-target cuts. While, the majority of the 23 analysts covering TSLA maintain a "hold" or worse rating on the equity, the average 12-month price target sits all the way up at $277.75.
Options traders would certainly welcome more downside. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), TSLA's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.21 ranks in the 84th annual percentile, meaning puts have been bought to open over calls at a quicker-than-usual clip.