Tesla has made progress reducing its cash burn but the electric-car maker is not “quite out of the woods yet,” Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas told CNBC on Wednesday.
The auto analyst expects Tesla to burn about $600 million, possibly as much as $1 billion, in cash in the first quarter, but said a partnership with a tech company or another original equipment manufacturer “could go a long way.”
The key for Tesla is to expand beyond a “standalone electric car company” and find resilience as competition in the electric space heats up, said Jonas, who gained a wide following on Wall Street for predicting the rise of Tesla and electric vehicles.
“The biggest question for Tesla share price, let’s say over the next 12 months … is this company finally at a point where it’s self-financing, where it doesn’t need external equity capital to fund its very ambitious plans?” he said on “Fast Money.”
Tesla plans to reveal an electric truck this summer, but a counterpart can gain an edge with its own electric powertrain in the pickup truck market, Jonas said.
Morgan Stanley has a price target of $283 for the stock, which is more than 8 percent lower than its Wednesday close of about $308.
Tesla faces tougher questions as General Motors and Amazon are rumored to be investing in Rivian Automotive, a Detroit-based technology start-up that is the firm’s top pick to compete with Tesla in the near future. Jonas sees Rivian as the next leader in electric pickup trucks.
“Rivian and other start-ups that can get access to the best talent and … capital and … have the business-model chops of an Amazon behind it, that could pose … a much more serious threat to Tesla than, say, the Germans who will have EVs,” Jonas said Wednesday, “but the cultural issues are real limiting factors in our opinion.”
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