‘Consumer Reports’ Turnaround: Tesla, TSLA, Led Stocks In The United States Lower Yesterday

Stock in Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) fell to a near six-month low yesterday before recovering slightly. TSLA stock was down $15.07 or 6.61 percent on more than three times average trading volume. Tesla shares helped lead the broader U.S. market lower.

The sell-off comes amid an abrupt turnaround by U.S. consumer watchdog Consumer Reports. Just this past August, reports surfaced with Tech Crunch and others that the Tesla Model S P85D scored 103 out of 100 on the reviewer’s rating system.

Yesterday, news suddenly broke that Consumer Reports was saying that it could no longer recommend the Tesla Model S.

Reuters is reporting that Consumer Reports has stated that it “found ‘an emerging trend of increased troubles’ with a broad range of vehicles that use new transmission technology to boost mileage.”

At one point during the day, TSLA shares were down more than 11 percent.

The decline brings TSLA 12-month share performance to -7.82 percent, compared with a gain of 4.59 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and 11.37 percent for the NASDAQ Composite Index (^IXIC); each track the broader movements of the U.S stock market.

Over the past 90 days, Tesla has seen its 2015 full-year Wall Street analyst consensus EPS estimates cut from a loss of $0.05 to a loss of $0.88. Full-year 2016 TSLA EPS estimates have been taken down from $3.46 to $2.22.

Tesla’s stated goals have included selling between 50,000 and 55,000 cars this year, as reported by Inquisitr. At the end of September, Tesla had only sold a reported 17,000, leaving the company the task of tripling production in the last three months of the year. Delivering only six Model X SUVs at the vehicles unveiling, also as reported by the Inquisitr, probably didn’t help the stock market’s perception of Tesla.

Tesla’s sister company of sorts, SolarCity Corporation (NASDAQ: SCTY), which is headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s cousin, Lyndon Rive, has seen its shares decrease by 26.95 percent in the last year. SCTY shares sit not far from from 52-week lows of $34.65.

In addition to cars, Tesla has announced the formation of Tesla Energy, aimed at producing stationary home batteries, called Powerwalls, which would solve power storage problems faced by solar users both in the United States and globally, as well give users the opportunity to store power from utility grids during off-peak times for use at peak times, ostensibly saving the consumer money.

Seven kWh and 10 kWh Powerwall versions were announced on April 30th, with summer delivery promised. Only the 10 kWh unit are reported to be suitable for use with solar panels. As of mid-September, only a seeming trickle of 7 kWh Powerwalls have been delivered in the United States, and no 10 kWh units at all. Reportedly, SolarCity has been accepting orders for the 10 kWh Powerwalls, with customers purportedly expecting summertime delivery. Delivery of the 10 kWh Powerwalls as well as Model X SUVs appears to have been largely pushed out to 2016.

Further, just this past week, the Inquisitr reported on the arrest of a photographer at the Tesla Nevada state Gigafactory. The journalist apparently hit Tesla security guards with a vehicle and worked for the Reno Gazette Journal, a media outlet that has covered Tesla extensively. Recent purported drone footage of the Tesla Gigafactory was also available.

Tesla is scheduled to release its third quarter 2015 financial results after the close of the U.S. stock market on Tuesday, November 3. Quarterly TSLA EPS of -$0.48 and revenue of $1.3 billion are the consensus Wall Street analyst estimates. SolarCity is scheduled to release earnings on Thursday, October 29. SCTY EPS of -$1.95 is expected with gross sales of $111.4 million.

Going into the report, Tesla was reporting trailing twelve month revenues of $3.7 billion. United States auto-maker, General Motors (NYSE: GM), by comparison, reported revenues of $152.8 billion. Tesla’s revenues are 2.4 percent of GM’s. Tesla Market capitalization is a hefty $27.7 billion, compared with GM’s $52.6 billion. Tesla’s market cap is 52.7 percent of General Motors’, while its sales are only 2.4 percent.

[Feature Photo by David Becker/Getty Images]