Drop! Drop! Drop! Analysts downgrade delivery expectations, raising market concerns as Tesla's stock price remains sluggish

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Tesla (TSLA.US) stock price continues to be sluggish. Investors had hoped that a stabilization of market sentiment would lead to a rebound, but this expectation did not materialize on Monday. Concerns about an economic recession have intensified, and Wall Street analysts have lowered Tesla's delivery expectations, causing Tesla's stock price to plummet by 15.43%, closing at $222.15. UBS analyst Joseph Spak has revised Tesla's first-quarter delivery target from 437,000 units to 367,000 units in a recent report, a figure that is far below market expectations. Additionally, his delivery forecast for 2025 is only 1.7 million units, significantly lower than Wall Street's general expectation of 2 million units. Spak did not attribute this adjustment to Musk's political stance or other factors but pointed out that Tesla's current delivery cycle, pricing strategy, and early-year sales data are all showing weakness. Therefore, he has rated Tesla's stock as "sell," while lowering the target price from $259 to $225, further exacerbating market pessimism. Tesla is experiencing its worst two months in history. As of Monday, the company's stock price has fallen approximately 45% from February to March. Despite the recent poor stock performance, Tesla has still accumulated a rise of about 27% over the past year and reached an all-time high of $488.54 on December 18, 2023. However, the current market trend leaves investors uncertain about future movements. On Monday, the overall performance of U.S. stocks was weak. The S&P 500 index fell by 2.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 2.08%. Additionally, U.S. President Trump, in an interview, did not rule out the possibility of an economic recession in 2025, further heightening market concerns. He stated in the interview, "I don't like to predict a recession, but the current economy is in a transitional phase." Investors had hoped for some positive news from the market, but the reality is that Tesla's stock price has fallen by 26% over the past month. During this time, Tesla has also faced another unexpected risk factor—DOGE. On February 20, Google search data showed that the search popularity of "DOGE" reached a peak in the past 90 days, even surpassing "Tesla." Notably, Musk's deep involvement in Trump's newly established "Government Efficiency Department" has sparked controversy and led to protests related to DOGE and Tesla. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives pointed out in a recent report that investors ultimately need to ignore the uncertainties related to DOGE and focus on Tesla's core business. He still maintains a "buy" rating for Tesla stock and sets a target price of $550, believing that Tesla is poised to leverage artificial intelligence technology to launch autonomous taxi and humanoid robot businesses, potentially creating trillions of dollars in market value. Currently, the influence of DOGE seems to be waning, but investors still need to pay attention to its long-term impact. Analysts expect the DOGE project to continue until July 4, 2026, during which time changes in market sentiment may continue to affect Tesla's stock performance Overall, Tesla still faces multiple pressures in the short term, including market concerns about economic recession, downward adjustments in delivery expectations, uncertainties surrounding DOGE, and the overall weakness of the U.S. stock market. Investors will closely monitor delivery data and the latest developments in the autonomous driving business over the next few quarters to assess the company's future growth potential