We recently published a list of 11 Trending AI Stocks On Latest News and Analyst Ratings. Since Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) ranks 8th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Investors remain cautious following a major global selloff that shook the markets last week on recession fears. Analyst warnings around sky-high CapEx of tech companies and lack of visibility over returns are also expected to keep tech valuations in check in the coming weeks.
Last month, Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners, while talking to CNBC, highlighted a report from Goldman Sachs that said returns of AI investments might fail to meet investors’ expectations.
“The amount of capital investment in this sector, which is billions of dollars now, is so large that it’s almost unimaginable that we are going to get a rate of return over the next few years that justifies the amount of investment,” McNamee said.
Talking to Bloomberg, JPMorgan Asset Management’s Aisa Ogoshi said that there is some “adjustment” coming for tech stocks as she expects the AI-centric rally to diversify to other sectors.
“The key is to keep an eye on the earnings trends. It’s easy to panic in these times but really, just sit down and look at the numbers and reassess our positioning.”
Asked whether she plans to reduce exposure to AI stocks in the coming days, the analyst said she’d be more “selective” when it comes to AI plays and will increase the quality of stocks in the portfolio.
For this article, we chose 11 trending AI stocks based on the latest news, earnings and analyst ratings. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
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Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 74
BofA Securities believes Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the best beaten-down tech stocks presenting an attractive entry point following the latest selloff.
During the second quarter, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) automotive gross margin fell to 18.47% from 19.22% the previous year. Non-automotive revenue, now 22% of total sales compared to 14.67% in Q2 2023, has a lower gross margin, negatively impacting overall profitability. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is still heavily reliant on EVs where demand is falling. Tesla energy business is not strong enough to offset declines in the core business.
Cathie Wood recently set a $2600 price target on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) for 2029, which presents a whopping 1300% upside potential from the current levels. Wood thinks the robo taxi project has the potential to deliver $8 to $10 trillion in revenue by 2030.
However, many believe Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) won’t be able to live up to the hype around its robo taxi plans. Each robo taxi is expected to have a price tag of around $150K to $200K, with some estimates suggesting Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) would need about $35 billion to develop a global fleet of such cars. Amid inflation and lack of preference for electric cars, American families will probably stay away from spending a fortune on robo taxis, which could cause a blow to Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) plans in the future.
Alger Focus Equity Fund stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q1 2024 investor letter:
“Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an electric vehicle manufacturer with a technological lead in its large and rapidly growing addressable market. In our view, Tesla is a transportation company that is setting the pace for industry innovation. During the quarter, shares detracted from performance after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter results, where revenues and earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Weaker-than-expected automotive revenues were partly driven by a reduced average selling price, which was down 15% year-over-year. Moreover, management decided to forgo providing volume guidance, though they did acknowledge they are in a lower growth phase given the uncertain consumer environment particularly as it relates to high ticket purchases.”
Overall, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) ranks 8th on Insider Monkey’s list titled 11 Trending AI Stocks On Latest News and Analyst Ratings. While we acknowledge the potential of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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.
