Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares are running into resistance after enjoying a strong start to 2023, according to analysts at Tickmill.
The company’s share price hit resistance around $207.71 before falling lower, analysts said, but the long-term hope is that the stock will surge to $255.61. Conversely, if the shares slip below $170.22, then $108.24 is the big support level to watch.
“Tesla shares have run into something of a barrier recently with price reversing from the 207.71 level to trade back down to their lowest levels in over a month,” analysts said. “Recent strength in USD, reflecting the market’s more hawkish Fed outlook, has seen tech shares coming under pressure, with Tesla chief among those.”
That’s before even taking into account the electric vehicle maker’s mercurial CEO, Elon Musk.
Musk has seen no shortage of bad press since his takeover of Twitter, most recently after publicly firing an employee in a tweet thread Tuesday and mocking the employee for claiming to have muscular dystrophy ( from which the employee does suffer, according to reports).
Musk has since apologized, but the damage may have been done. Tesla shares fell more than 3% Wednesday to $182.
“The incident provoked widespread backlash online and clearly perturbed Tesla investors, serving as a fresh example of Musk being distracted by issues outside of his work at Tesla,” analysts said.
That said, all hope is not lost.
“Tesla shares still have a strong outlook for the year ahead on the back of a record set of profits for the company in Q4,” the analysts added. “With the US economy holding up well, looking like a recession might be avoided altogether, and with the Chinese recovery well underway, Tesla looks poised to make further gains this year.”
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel