Tesla is the worst performing stock in the S&P 500. Analysts say it has further to fall

A customer takes photos of a Tesla Cybertruck on display at Tesla in Buena Park, Calif., Sunday Dec. 3, 2023. With manufacturing kinks still to be worked out, Tesla has delivered the first dozen or so of its futuristic Cybertruck pickups to customers. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

lon Musk’s Tesla once represented the future of automaking. Now the company’s own future is in question.

The once red-hot electric vehicle maker — heralded as part of the so-called Magnificent Seven behemoth tech stocks — is currently the worst performer in the S&P 500 this year, down nearly 32 per cent since January.

The story of Tesla’s (TSLA) decline has been well documented. The company has been plagued by safety issues and recalls, slowing growth and has even been forced to slash prices. But a new report by Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan on Wednesday offers a darker picture than previously imagined.

Tesla, he wrote, is a “growth company with no growth.”

Langan predicts that Tesla’s growth will remain flat this year and then decline in 2025 as competition increases, deliveries disappoint and the beleaguered auto and tech company is forced to cut prices again.

UBS also downgraded its forecast for Tesla on Wednesday. Analysts said concerns are mounting as demand for electric vehicles slow and China begins to compete in the market.

With the exception of Tesla, all of the Magnificent Seven companies (that also includes Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google, Nvidia and Microsoft) saw double- or triple-digit earnings growth in the final three months of 2023. Tesla reported a 40 per cent decline in profit from the year before.

Tesla has been navigating through a perfect storm.The EV environment is getting more crowded right as the company’s fundamentals have come into question. Its share price has dropped about 60 per cent from its 2021 all-time high of US$407.

But even with the recent drop in price, Tesla’s stock is still very expensive when compared to its actual earnings and profits, said Langan. The company’s former propensity for rapid growth is no longer certain, he said, and shares likely have further to fall.

Wells Fargo has lowered its price target for the stock from US$200 to US$125, predicting another 25 per cent decrease in value. UBS, meanwhile, has lowered its price target to a more moderate US$165 from US$225.