For electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), “ambition” was the name of the game, at least for a while there. With plans for a new plant in Indonesia and expansion at plants from Berlin to Shanghai, the momentum was certainly there to turn Tesla up. However, new word emerged that says one expansion hit some unexpected snags, and that left investors cold, as Tesla slipped a bit in Thursday afternoon trading. Tesla halted its plans to expand in Shanghai, reports note, after concerns arose from Beijing about data security issues.
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The issue reportedly connects back to Elon Musk’s ownership of Starlink, which apparently somehow connects as far as Beijing is concerned. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time this problem has come up. Last year, Beijing banned Tesla vehicles from military housing and similar complexes over those same security concerns.
Despite this, however, there are still signs of life from Tesla. Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch noted that the electric vehicle market was likely to moderate. From there, Tesla’s wide release of the Cybertruck and Semi systems would gain new prominence. Further, Tesla was likely to take advantage of greater geography in its sales, thanks in part to its aggressive diversification of Gigafactory locations. With Berlin and Austin preparing to ramp up production and a potential new factory slated for Indonesia, the end result might give Tesla even more edge even in a declining market.
Regardless, Wall Street is solidly on Tesla’s side. Analyst consensus calls Tesla stock a Moderate Buy. Thanks to an average price target of $251.48, Tesla shares also enjoy an upside potential of 108.01%.
