Tesla No Longer the 'Apple' of Auto Industry Thanks to Lower-Priced Model 3, Says Analyst The electric car manufacturer was the biggest loser for the Entrepreneur Index™.
By Andrew Osterland •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The Federal Reserve Bank appears as confused about the state of the economy as investors are.
Eric Rosengren, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, suggested today that the Fed might need "several meetings" before getting an accurate read on the health of the U.S. economy. Slowing growth outside the U.S. and accumulating signs of weakness in the U.S. economy suggest a significant slowdown is possible. The Fed has indicated it will wait for further evidence before raising or cutting interest rates.
Investors also seem to be waiting for clearer signs on the economy. The major indexes were flat for most of the day. A late dip sent the Dow and S&P 500 indexes down 0.05 percent and 0.11 percent respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.02 percent. Technology stocks and REITs helped the Entrepreneur Index™ post a 0.05 percent gain today.
Tyson Foods had the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™, rising 2.75 percent today after a Stephens Inc. analyst initiated coverage on the stock and set a price target of $78 -- about 22 percent higher than its current $63.97. The shares are already up almost 20 percent this year.
Tesla, meanwhile, was on the other side of analyst sentiment. Two Barclays analysts cut their price target for the automaker to $192, about a third below the current price of $276.54. The stock was down 3.09 percent today -- the biggest decline on the Entrepreneur Index™. The Barclays analysts suggested in a research note that the bullish case for Tesla was as the "Apple" of the auto industry -- selling lots of cars at premium prices. They said that scenario no longer applies with the introduction of the lower priced Tesla Model three sedan.
The margin for error is small when you're one of the hottest software makers on the planet. Salesforce.com reported great financial results after the market close yesterday, topping both earnings and revenue estimates. However, it issued first quarter guidance slightly below very high expectations and got punished. The stock was down nearly four percent yesterday before results were reported and was down another 0.97 percent today.
The maker of customer relationship management software for businesses is still growing sales at a more than 20 percent clip and one analyst expects the company to double revenues to roughly $28 billion by 2023. With the price/earnings ratio on the stock at a lofty 117, any financial hiccups will hurt the stock price. Shares in salesforce.com are still up 14.6 percent this year and 28.1 percent over the last twelve months.
The rest of the tech sector was generally positive today. Three of four FAANG stocks on the Entrepreneur Index™ were up with Facebook (2.47 percent), once again posting the biggest gain in the sector. Twitter was also up sharply, rising 1.74 percent.
Other notable gains on the Entrepreneur Index™ included REITs Kimco Realty Corp.and Extra Space Storage, up 1.8 percent and 1.56 percent respectively. Some of the bigger declines were posted by D.R. Horton Inc. (-2.1 percent), Gap Inc. (-1.91 percent), and Wynn Resorts (-1.14 percent).
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
