Tesla impresses analysts by navigating through tricky environment
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is being analyzed up and down Wall Street after the electric vehicle market reiterated its multi-year 50% annual delivery growth target, but warned logistical and supply chain issues could keep it from hitting that pace this year.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas called it a clean quarter for TSLA with an EPS beat despite lower regulatory credits, rising input costs, FX headwinds, logistics/plant ramp-up inefficiencies. He noted that $3.3B of free cash flow was nearly 3X the firm's forecast. While it was a very strong quarter for the EV giant, Jonas wishes FY23 consensus would allow more room for macro uncertainty.
A growing point of emphasis was raised by RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak, who pointed to tailwinds from the Inflation Reduction Act lifting Tesla's (TSLA) margins in 2022 and 2023.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives was not knocked off his bullish stance on Tesla (TSLA).
"This quarter was a respectable performance in a very difficult environment with delivery and supply chain issues front and center in Europe and China that threw another dose of reality for Tesla which has been Teflon-like over the past few years despite supply chain chaos across the auto/tech world."
Looking ahead, Ives predicted that Tesla (TSLA) will fire off buybacks with its giant cash load to please investors.
Meanwhile, Bernsteinâs Toni Sacconaghi is still unconvinced that Tesla makes sense for investors on a risk/reward basis.
âWhile we acknowledge Teslaâs innovation and financial success, we continue to struggle to justify the companyâs valuation... TSLAâs valuation appears to imply huge volume and industry leading profitability going forward, which is historically unprecedented."
Baird recommended that Tesla (TSLA) should be bought based off the results.
"TSLA posted strong Q3 results amidst continuing materials shortages and logistics volatility. Cost per vehicle should improve as delivery pace smooths and TSLA shifts to a more even delivery and production mix geographically. TSLA Semi deliveries are scheduled to begin in Q4 with production ramp accelerating in 2023. Setup for Q4 is strong as gigafactory ramp continues in Austin and Berlin."
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 5.21% in premarket action on Thursday to $210.25.
Read the Tesla earnings call transcript.
Check out the latest articles on Tesla from Seeking Alpha authors.