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One of Wall Street’s bullish Tesla analysts is lowering his expectations for the stock but still sees the automaker as a winner in the electric vehicle space. Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas cut his price target on Tesla to $250 per share from $330, citing weaker demand for electric vehicles, but kept his overweight weighting on the stock. The new target is more than 100% above where the stock closed on Wednesday. Tesla’s stock is down 68% year to date, and 42% in December alone. While investor concerns about CEO Elon Musk’s time spent running Twitter is likely one factor in Tesla’s struggles, the electric vehicle market also appears to be slowing. “We believe 2023 is shaping up to be a ‘reset’ year for the EV market where the last 2 years of demand exceeding supply will be substantially inverted to supply exceeding demand,” Jonas wrote. Tesla appears to be responding to the weaker demand by slowing the rollout of its cars. Reuters reported earlier this month that Tesla is suspending production at its Shanghai plant for the final week of the year. A wave of Covid infections is part of the reason for the slowdown in China. The Morgan Stanley note said its China analysts expect issues in China to continue into early February. However, the weaker market for electric vehicles is a bigger threat to Tesla’s competitors than Musk’s company, Jonas said. “On a relative basis, the reiteration of our OW rating must be seen vs. more challenged EV-related peers such as EW-rated Fisker (FSR), UW-rated Lucid (LCID), and UW-rated QuantumScape (QS),” Jonas wrote. “Between a worsening macro backdrop, record high [unaffordability], and increasing competition, there are hurdles to overcome. Yet we do believe that in the face of all these pressures, TSLA will widen its lead in the EV race.” Shares of Tesla were up 4% in premarket trading. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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