Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) bear Gordon Johnson authored a new analyst note addressing the company’s Cybercab event on Thursday, arguing that investors should be disappointed. Here’s why.
The Tesla Analyst
GLJ Research analyst Gordon L. Johnson maintained a Sell rating on Tesla stock with a price target of $24.86. The Cybercab Event left investors with many unanswered questions, Johnson said in a new investor note.
"A car showed up. A business didn’t," Johnson said.
The analyst said the vehicle going into service in Austin is "not nothing," but questions about how many vehicles, prices and under whose rules are still unanswered.
"Attendees, a curated group of Tesla-friendly creators/cultists with instructions that plus-ones could not themselves be creators, took rides in a two-seater with no steering wheel and no pedals. Then they posted about it. That was the event."
Known for his bearish take on Tesla, Johnson does give credit to how far the Cybercab has come in twenty-three months, going from being a prop on a soundstage to a production vehicle taking people around a small geofenced area in Texas.
"But the stock is not priced for a car. It is priced for a network,” Johnson said, citing how there weren’t any new details on Tesla’s network.
"Sell the news,” he added.
The analyst said Tesla shares fell Friday after the event, continuing a tradition of the stock trading lower after flagship events dating back to “Battery Day” in September 2020.
"Across the prior ten, the average return is -3.2% the next day, -5.2% over the following week, and -3.2% over the month. Eight of ten were lower a week later."
Johnson sees Tesla stock falling even lower than that post-event average with a 12-month price target of $24.86. The analyst’s target is based on a 10x price-to-earnings multiple applied to GAAP-estimated EPS of $2.49.
This price target would represent a 93% decline from current levels, with shares already down 29% from all-time highs set in December and 19% year-to-date in 2026.
Tesla Stock Price Action
Tesla stock is down 6% to $353.71 on Friday versus a 52-week trading range of $297.38 to $498.82.
Photo by Josiah True via Shutterstock
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