By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were down 5% Thursday premarket after a cautious analyst report and a slide in Bitcoin prices both weighed on the stock.
Alexander Potter, a senior research analyst at Piper Sandler (NYSE:PIPR), was quoted in various reports as warning of the risks of delays to the ramp up of production at the company's new factories in Germany and Texas, the latter being home to Tesla's electric truck project.
Tesla has frequently missed its own production targets in the past but its record deliveries of over 500,000 last year have fostered hopes that it has improved on that score.
The analyst has an ‘overweight’ rating and $1200 price target on the electric vehicle maker.
The Piper Sandler came a relatively high degree of background noise for the stock. Chinese automotive group Geely overnight launched a new premium brand - Zeekr - that it intends to compete directly with Tesla. Rising U.S.-Chinese animosity in recent months has reminded many in the market of Tesla's high dependence on the Chinese market.
In addition a sharp slide in (Bitcoin) prices is casting a different light on CEO Elon Musk's boast at the weekend that Tesla will now accept Bitcoin as payment. A Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) note published this wee which highlights the heavy carbon footprint of Bitcoin is also jarring with Tesla's self-image as environmentally friendly.