Tesla, Inc. TSLA shares fell over 4% on Wednesday, the second session of the year, but one bullish analyst does not attach much significance to the downturn.
What Happened: Tesla’s stock had a big run-up in 2023, having advanced 102% compared to Nasdaq’s 54% advance, Future Fund’s Gary Black pointed out in a post on X on Wednesday.
“For those cranky about $TSLA underperformance this morning let's get real,” he said on social media.
He also noted that all the tech stocks got hammered as the FOMC minutes for the December monetary policy meeting set off worries among investors that the central bank wouldn’t be as aggressive in cutting rates as some had hoped for.
Weighing in on the stock weakness, the fund manager said the fourth-quarter deliveries released Tuesday were very strong, fueled by record China fourth-quarter demand. He expects fourth-quarter core auto gross margins to be above the third quarter’s 16.3% due to the 11% higher volume in the fourth quarter.
The Future Fund Active ETF FFND, the flagship exchange-traded fund of Black’s Future Fund, has Tesla as its second-biggest holding.
Read Next: Everything You Need To Know About Tesla Stock
Volume Growth To Slow? Black said he expects Tesla to guide to 2024 deliveries of at least 2.2 million units, in line with the consensus estimate. The company typically comments about delivery targets on its quarterly earnings calls. The Elon Musk-led company will release fourth-quarter results on Jan. 24.
The fund manager’s deliveries outlook suggests 22% year-over-year growth, the slowest since 2013, the first full year after Tesla began delivering its Model S EVs in June 2012.
The growth, according to the fund managers, would be slow by Tesla standards but is ”quite achievable,” going by fourth-quarter strength in China and the “halo effect” expected from the Cybertruck, which was commercially launched in late November.
The slowdown is a function of an uncertain economic and monetary policy outlook that has been weighing down on demand, competitive threat, and a lack of budget model EV.
Tesla ended Wednesday’s session down 4.01% at $238.45, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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