Cathie Wood and her Ark Invest funds loaded up on Tesla Thursday as TSLA stock fell more than 4%, dropping to 10-month lows.
Negative sentiment surrounding Tesla stock is not deterring Wood from picking up shares. On Thursday, Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management bought 216,682 TSLA shares, according to the company's daily trade disclosure. Based on the closing price of 162.50 Thursday, Wood spent $35.21 million on the Tesla stock purchases.
Wood's Tesla trades were done through the ARK Innovation ETF and ARK Next Generation Internet and ARK Autonomous Tech.
As of March 15, TSLA sits second in ARKK with a 7.62% weight. Meanwhile, Tesla stock is the top ranked holding in ARKQ, with a 9.61% weight. TSLA has a weight of 5.15% in ARKW, good for fifth.
Wood's Tesla stock purchases Thursday came as the shares fell more than 4% to 162.50 in market action, hitting new 2024 lows and levels not seen since May 2023. TSLA is down 19% in March.
Tesla shares edged up 0.6% to 163.46 Friday.
Last week, Cathie Wood and her Ark Invest funds scooped up a combined 143,311 shares Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the company's daily trade disclosure.
Wood began purchasing Tesla stock again in late December 2023 after repeatedly selling TSLA. Early in 2023, Wood pounced on Tesla as the stock traded below its 200-day moving average.
Cathie Wood's Ark tends to buy stocks when they're falling or well off highs.
Tesla Is Plunging, But It's Not Getting Cheaper. Here's Why.
Tesla Stock Performance
Wells Fargo downgraded Tesla to underweight, down from equal weight, Wednesday with a price target of 125, down from 200. The firm's underweight rating is equivalent to a sell rating and its price cut represents a 23% downside risk to current TSLA levels.
Meanwhile, late Wednesday UBS cut its Tesla stock price target to 165, down from 225, and maintained a neutral rating on the shares. UBS also lowered its Q1 delivery forecast to 432,000 units, from its previous 466,000 view. The firm also cut full-year deliveries to 1.96 million units, down from 2.02 million previously.
With 2023 in the rearview mirror, analyst consensus now has 2024 Tesla earnings below 2023's level, signaling another year of negative growth for this growth stock. Wall Street expects Tesla earnings per share of just $3.02 a share in 2024, according to FactSet. That would be a more than a 2% decline vs. last year's $3.12.
The FactSet "sharp consensus" of recent analyst calls pegs 2024 EPS at just $2.73.
Morgan Stanley Tesla bull Adam Jonas last week issued an investor note in which he cut his Tesla 2024 earnings projections by 25%, saying that the EV giant could "potentially" lose money this year.
Jonas slashed his Tesla price target to 320, down from 345, but maintained an overweight rating on the shares. Jonas also whittled down his Tesla 2024 EPS projections to $1.51, his previous view was $2.04 per share, with auto gross profit margins, excluding regulatory credits, sinking to 11.4% as the analyst foresees continued demand issues for EVs.
The EV giant ranks eighth in the 35 member IBD Auto Manufacturers industry group. The stock has a 29 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Tesla stock also has a 9 Relative Strength Rating and a 68 EPS Rating.
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