Analyst: Tesla’s (TSLA) Lack of Growth ‘Unnerving’ For Shareholders

We recently published a list of 10 AI Stocks on Wall Street’s Radar After DeepSeek Breakthrough. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stands against other AI stocks on Wall Street’s radar after DeepSeek breakthrough.

AI investors are desperately trying to find clues on the real impact of DeepSeek on chip demand in the future and gauge how the breakthrough in China would impact US companies. Tae Kim, senior technology writer at Barron’s, said in a latest program on CNBC that DeepSeek has been able to significantly reduce the AI costs but that would increase more use cases of the technology:

“Over time, computing history has shown when you get more computing power and put that into the hands of developers, they figure out new applications, new workloads to use it. I mean, there’s that saying, “Oh, you only need 640k of memory,” and then obviously that proved false. So over time, like researchers, I mean, we have healthcare, drug discovery, trillions of proteins that need to be simulated, robotics. There are these three mega trends that are happening this year right now: multimodal, where you analyze audio and video, there’s AI agents, all these things are happening that are going to require more computing power.”

The question, however, everyone would be focusing on in the coming days is what if a hardware breakthrough happens in China and the country comes up with its own AI chips performing at par with its US counterparts.

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Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 99

Tim Higgins, Wall Street Journal business columnist, said in a latest program on CNBC that investors would be looking to see if Elon Musk is able to bring Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) back to its growth trajectory amid his busy schedule in the new US government.

“I think what they’re probably looking for is what they’re always looking for, is kind of the tone of his excitement for the months ahead. Is he optimistic that Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) can return to growth, that kind of growth that has fueled that stock price for so many years, or is he cautious and worried about the months ahead, which would be very negative, likely on the stock? Remember, this is a growth story, this is a growth stock, and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has not been growing. Last year, deliveries fell for the first time, and that is unnerving for a lot of folks.”

Analysts are still trying to look beyond Elon Musk’s claims and find out the specifics of the company’s EV and robo-taxi plans.

Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) product lineup is showing signs of stagnation, with over 95% of sales still coming from the Model 3 and Model Y. Meanwhile, competitors are rolling out more advanced models. Even Rivian’s CEO suggested Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) could be nearing market saturation for these models. According to Reuters, Tesla’s market share in Europe is slipping as legacy automakers like BMW post stronger sales. Chinese competitor BYD is also gaining ground in Europe, despite talk of tariffs.

Infuse Asset Management stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“I’ve been very patient with Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Frankly, I’m a big believer in Elon but I also hate investing in companies where the narrative far outweighs any financial evidence. I do see a path to Tesla being one of the world’s largest companies but slight growth in a cyclical industry with very little pricing power is not a recipe for strong forward returns. Though the AI/robotics narrative is strong, I’m not adding at current prices since we haven’t seen much of the narrative translate into the earnings yet. This cognitive dissonance can be an uncomfortable tension but I’m trying to look at the big picture here. So while I fully admit that Tesla may be overvalued in the short run, the long-term destination of the company should not be underestimated.”

Overall, TSLA ranks 7th on our list of AI stocks on Wall Street’s radar after DeepSeek breakthrough. While we acknowledge the potential of TSLA, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TSLA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.