FILE PHOTO: Tesla super chargers are shown in Mojave, California, U.S. July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
(Reuters) – Shares of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) fell 11 percent on Thursday and were set to knock off more than $5 billion in the electric carmaker’s market value, a day after it disappointed Wall Street by pushing its profit timeline once again.
Analysts also focused on the impact of shrinking margins, a key challenge for the company in delivering a profit consistently.
“For Tesla to be more than niche, one of the core challenges will be for Tesla to improve its gross margin profile,” a Credit Suisse analyst wrote in a research note.
Wedbush Securities cut its price target on the stock from $230 to $220, citing the softer margin profile.
The stock was down 11.34{5048a9ac22a95e6c0a00d427d71a0d7ff263f9d98391fe7073acb5a0aa0a3f48} at $234.84 before the opening bell, still 3{5048a9ac22a95e6c0a00d427d71a0d7ff263f9d98391fe7073acb5a0aa0a3f48} above the median price target of $227.5.
The delayed timeline on profitability also weighed on its $1.8 billion junk bond US166858275=, which debuted just shy of two years ago. In European trading, the bond dropped more than 2 full points in price, and its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, surged back above 8{5048a9ac22a95e6c0a00d427d71a0d7ff263f9d98391fe7073acb5a0aa0a3f48} for the first time since July 1.
Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Sayanti Chakraborty in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel