- Tesla (TSLA -0.5%) seems to be hanging in there despite the eye-opening capitulation by former uber-bulls Adam Jonas (Morgan Stanley) and Dan Ives (Wedbush) this week and some more Model 3 pricing news.
- The company "significantly" reduced the base price of its newly upgraded Model S and Model X vehicles, notes Electrek. The website reports that the standard 285-mile range Model S starts at $78K and the Model X starts at $83K for the 250-mile range.
- The EV automaker responded to the pricing development: "Like other car companies, we periodically adjust pricing and available options. These pricing changes represent a reduction of about 2% to 3% in Model X and S prices. Last week, we raised US Model 3 prices by 1%. By any reasonable standard, these small changes are not newsworthy."
- On CNBC this morning, Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin stated that Apple made a serious bid to acquire Tesla at $240 per share around 2013 and teased the idea that the company could still be interested at the $200 level with Apple's Project Titan still alive. Irwin sees Tesla's shares nearing their floor even as he concedes Model 3 demand is being hurt by the lack of a true $35K version.
- There's also the question of Elon Musk and margin calls being floated around. Any thoughts?