Tesla shares gain for a third straight session on Monday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch resumes coverage on the stock with an “Underperform” rating

Bank of America Merrill Lynch was reported to have resumed coverage on Tesla Inc (TSLA), while assigning an “Underperform” rating and a price target of $225 on the stock.

Tesla shares closed higher for a third consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Monday. The stock edged up 0.12% ($0.31) to $255.34, after touching an intraday high at $258.32, or a price level not seen since April 25th ($259.00).

Shares of Tesla Inc have retreated 23.28% so far in 2019 compared with a 23.13% gain for the benchmark index, Nasdaq 100 (NDX).

In 2018, Tesla’s stock went up 6.89%, thus, it outperformed the Nasdaq 100, which registered a 1.04% loss.

According to analyst John Murphy, Teslas “autonomous/ride-sharing ambitions, as well as other adjacent business pursuits, may be distractions from the company’s growing demand woes and other operating challenges in its core business (i.e. manufacturing and selling vehicles) that were certainly present in the disappointing 1Q:19 results.”

The analyst considers Tesla’s move to raise capital last week as further evidence of the auto makers inability to turn the corner on sustainable profits and cash flow.

According to CNN Money, the 29 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Tesla Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $275.00, with a high estimate of $530.00 and a low estimate of $150.00. The median estimate represents a 7.70% upside compared to the closing price of $255.34 on May 6th.

The same media also reported that 11 out of 32 surveyed investment analysts had rated Tesla Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 8 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 9 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Tesla Inc (TSLA) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $247.70
R1 – $263.88
R2 – $272.73
R3 – $288.91
R4 – $305.09

S1 – $238.85
S2 – $222.67
S3 – $213.82
S4 – $204.97