After eight years as a public company, Tesla still has startup problems

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc. celebrates its eighth anniversary as a public company on Friday, and investors who have embarked on the action and have kept their shares are enjoying great increases [19659002]

TSLA, -0.81%

closed at $ 23.89, 41% above its original offer public price, in its public debut on June 29, 2010, it exploded d & # 39; a factor of almost 15. [19659002CelasetraduiraitpardegrosgainspourledirecteurgénéralElonMusks'ilavaitconservésaparticipationinitialedansl'entrepriseMuskadivulguédansundépôtinitialdelaSECde284millionsd'actionssoit291%desactionsencirculationau3février2011uneparticipationde670millionsdedollarsàl'époqueCetinvestissementvaudraitmaintenantenviron984milliardsdedollarsaujourd'hui(LadernièredivulgationparTesladelaparticipationdeMuskindiquaitqu'ildétenait33737921actionssoit199%desactionsencirculationau12juin2018)

By comparison, the shares of its competitor Ford Motor Co.

F, -0.04%

earned 14% over the last eight years, while the shares of General Motors Co.

GM, -0.89%

soared 34%. The S & P 500 index

SPX, + 0.82%

almost tripled (+ 161%) over the same period

But the Tesla Stock Market Rally stagnated for a year while analysts remain divided over the company and the colors Musk, who has taken an increasingly aggressive stance against the detractors perceived in recent months.

The stock has lost 3.3% in the last 12 months and has lost nearly 10% since September 18, 2017, record $ 385. Meanwhile, Ford shares climbed 0.7%, GM 15% and S & P 500 more than 13%

Moving Targets

This anniversary comes at a crucial moment for Tesla and Musk, who is under pressure to achieve the company's goal of producing 5,000 of its 3 Series 3 Mass Sedan per week by the end of June. This goal has been postponed several times due to manufacturing issues and problems with battery cells, module assembly, and factory automation lines

. in the safety of its Autopilot driver assistance system.

Musk's assurances that the company will put production on track, be profitable in the third and fourth quarters, and even achieve a positive net cash flow in the second half, without the need to raise new capital, have been questioned and welcomed by bulls.

Tesla's free cash flow jumped $ 1 billion in the first quarter, up from $ 277 million in the fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting negative free cash flow of $ 889 million.

Musk's combative stance in recent negotiations with financial analysts and the media has further polarized the investment community about the company and its prospects: For bulls, he is a visionary genius; for the bears, a leader who seems more and more unsuited to the role of leader of a mature public company, and whose many projects – traveling in space, hyperlinks, put humans on Mars – maybe leave him a little too much.

Read on again: Elon Musk was acting like a fool, and Tesla's action was paying the price

Musk made headlines almost daily thanks to an active Twitter account and to l & rsquo; Usually attacking critics who sometimes throw him into a slightly unworthy light.

This month, he appeared in a story describing a dispute with a Colorado artist on an image of a farting unicorn; he warned a bearish analyst of Goldman Sachs that he is "in a brutal awakening"; he turned on Twitter with discussions on an electric pickup – the production problems of model 3 should be damned.

There is more. Musk has accused a former employee of sabotage and the threat of violence in the workplace; he showed a new production line that is literally lodged in a tent: and he warned the sellers to find that they have about three weeks "before their short position explodes."

See also: Trump's rights would be bad for the entire global auto industry, says Moody & # 39; ; s

In May, Musk unveiled his plans to create a Yelp-type site to let people evaluate the credibility of journalists and news organizations, and suggest that he name him after the news. former Soviet propaganda of the former Soviet Union, Pravda

Analysts surveyed by FactSet have an average score on Tesla shares and an average price target of $ 306.25, or 12% less than its actual level.

On Thursday, Baird analysts issued a bullish note in which they said they expect the company to announce second quarter shipments by next Tuesday and that the news will be optimistic and will support the stock. The analyst Ben Kallo said that he expected the company to have shipped about 25,000 models 3 during the quarter, with more sales in the channel.

"We think that there is a chance that Tesla is announcing a way to continue to increase production, which would probably be a positive catalyst," he wrote in a note, reiterating an outperformance on the title .

Friday, Instinet Analysts reiterated their positive stance on the stock, although they warned of likely price volatility next week at the end of the delivery report.

Read now: It is almost time that Tesla's board of directors moves Elon Musk

"We expect that Tesla will reach its production target of Model 3 of 5,000 / week thanks to a past extrapolation of targets, "wrote analyst Romit Shah.He repeated his purchase rating and his price target of $ 450, or 28.5% more than his trading level

But others are still bearish, as traditional automakers are progressing in the development and sale of their own electric vehicles and advancing in autonomous driving technology.

David Einhorn, hedge fund manager, just the company failed to produce a profit when she appreciated peak demand for his vehicles and no competition, Janney analysts wrote in a note.

In fact, Ei Nhorn expects the competition to heat up quickly, which may prove to be the biggest ever growing pain for Musk's Tesla.