Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) finally posted its fourth quarter earnings much to the disappointment of Wall Street as the company failed to meet revenue estimates with questions being asked about the company’s long-term prospects. During an interview on CNBC, CLSA vice president, Andrew Fung, reiterated an ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock with a $300 share price target. On belief that China sales will act as the key driver going forward.
CEO, Elon Musk, has already stated that Tesla is revamping its approach on the sale of cars in China seen as a key marketplace that should rival the U.S. in terms of unit sales. Chinese government push to control auto pollution is another aspect that should be of benefit to Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), on its push to sell more luxury cars in the country according to the analyst.
“Specifically in China we are encouraged by the aggressive action that the management is taking with changes in personnel and also taking over the process to install chargers and adding superchargers. In the end, it shows how much of a focus they have in that particular country; we are very optimistic on the outlook for China over the midterm,” said Mr. Fung.
Management problems especially with heads in China has been the biggest challenge facing Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) seen by the company appointing two heads in a span of 18 months. The appointments only go to suggest how difficult the marketplace is turning out to be.
Getting it right from the top in terms of leadership is essential if the company is to attain any breakthrough in terms sales in the country. Fung believes the aggressive sentiments that the company has shown in the recent times with regards to China should result in a rebound of sales in the months to come.
People in China have also been reluctant on making the switch to electric cars, a problem the company is addressing by opting to build more charging stations. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) delivered a total of 9,834 vehicles in the fourth quarter below an initial target of 13,000 cars.
Judging Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) on its performance in China at the moment should be out of the picture according to the analyst as the company only launched last year.
“[…] we expect China to be probably as large as the U.S market over the midterm in 2020 or 2025, certainly they will need to scale back some of their investments and growth strategy if China doesn’t play out. I think it is too early to say that, that is the case they just entered the market in 2014 and then we will see how things progress from there,” said Mr. Fung.
Tesla releasing Model 3 that is to go on sale for $35,000 should act as a catalyst for increased unit volume sales, which should propel the stock to $300 a share, according to Fung
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