Wedbush Analysts Say ‘Heart and Lungs’ of Tesla’s Sales Growth Intact in China

Tesla’s (TSLA) sales declined in Germany once again in June, falling 60% compared to the same month a year ago, while some analysts were looking past Wednesday’s weak deliveries report and focusing on Tesla’s self-driving software.

The electric vehicle giant sold 1,860 new vehicles in Germany in June, bringing its year-to-date total to 8,890 vehicles, which is down 58% from the first half of last year. The decline for Tesla came as German customers bought a total of 47,163 electric vehicles in June, up 8.6% year-over-year.

The new data from Germany comes a day after Tesla reported a 14% decline in second-quarter deliveries, while production also fell from the year-ago quarter. Analysts had said ahead of the report that they expected Tesla to miss estimates, which set low expectations that helped Tesla shares rise 5% Wednesday despite the disappointing numbers.

In China, Tesla’s sales rose in June for the first time in eight months, Wedbush analysts said in a Wednesday note, calling China the “heart and lungs” of Tesla’s sales growth potential. The analysts held their $500 price target, adding that Tesla’s autonomous software “remains the biggest transformation to the auto industry in modern day history and in our view, Tesla will own the autonomous market in the US with the initial launch of unsupervised FSD in Austin.”

Goldman Sachs analysts lifted their price target for Tesla stock to $315 on Thursday while keeping their “neutral” rating, according to Visible Alpha. The new target puts them just above the current Visible Alpha consensus of $307.65.

Tesla shares were little changed in recent trading Thursday, ahead of an early close for the holiday weekend. They are down more than 20% since the start of the year, as shares have recently been hampered by CEO Elon Musk once again stepping up his attacks on President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill.