Tesla’s Stock Diverges From How Earnings Consensus Has Trended

(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc.’s valuation has divorced from how much money Wall Street is projecting the electric-car maker to make in its first two years of annual profits.

Analysts on average are projecting adjusted profit of almost $5 a share for this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, well below the more than $8 a share that was expected as recently as four months ago. Tesla’s stock price has more than quadrupled since mid-March.

Next year, consensus is for a little more than $12 a share, down from more than $15 a share earlier this year.

“What has changed to justify the unprecedented rise in Tesla shares? Not earnings estimates -- those have repeatedly come down,” Ryan Brinkman, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a report Wednesday. He has a sell-equivalent rating on the shares and his price target of $295 implies more than 80% downside from Tuesday’s close.

Read more: Tesla Needs Perfect Results to Satisfy Investors After Surge

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