Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Stock Coverage Terminated by Wedbush

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The shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) suffered a significant decline after WedBush issued a note (on September 12) to investors that it is dropping its coverage on the stock due to the departure of its analyst.

According to Wedbush, its last Outperform rating, estimates and price target for the shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) “should not be relied upon going forward” following the termination of its coverage.

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is trading at $252.70 per share, down by more than 9% at the time of this writing around 3:41 in the afternoon in New York.

Other factors causing Tesla’s stock decline

A separate report from an analyst at Morgan Stanley also contributed a negative impact to the shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jones and his colleagues indicated that it is too early for the shares of the electric car manufacturer to reach their target price. According to them, the reasons behind the increase in the stock price of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are not right to send it too high. They advised investors to consider several “sobering factors.”

The analysts noted that the electric vehicle industry is not doing well in general aside from Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAq:TSLA). They also expected the auto industry to push some major revisions to the current requirements under the guidelines of California Air Resources Board, which would impact the sales of electric vehicles.

In addition, Jones and his fellow analysts expected that the demand for Tesla’s electric cars in China could be “severely limited” over the next several quarter or even years citing local business practices and infrastructure as barriers.

Tesla plans to develop autonomous driving system

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Nikkei Asian Review, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) indicated that the electric car manufacturer is planning to develop its autonomous driving system.

According to Musk, “Full auto-pilot capability is going to happen, probably, in the near five or six-year term frame. The overall system and software will be programmed by Tesla, but we will certainly use sensors and subcomponents from many companies.” He added that Tesla vehicles will be integrated with auto-pilot capability over the long-term.

Earlier this month, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) delivered its first Model S vehicles in Japan.  The company also recently showed a map of its planned supercharger station expansion in Asia particularly in China and Japan.

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