‘Elon Musk just opened a can of worms’ – Jefferies

“Elon Musk just opened a can of worms,” wrote analysts in a note.

Jefferies reiterated their Hold rating on Tesla (NASDAQ:), with a $225.00 price target, after CEO Elon Musk threatened to develop AI expertise outside Tesla unless his current 13% voting stake is raised to 25%.

“Musk’s move raises the risk of near-term de-rating and further volatility,” added Jefferies.

After Musk posted his threat on X, Jefferies believes shareholders may question Elon Musk’s recent actions, including a cavalier approach to governance and fiduciary responsibilities.

They may reflect on his track record, such as misallocating capital gained in part from diluting Tesla shareholders before his Twitter acquisition and making questionable strategic and product decisions at Tesla in the past two years.

Despite these concerns, Jefferies anticipates that there may be another CEO super-compensation scheme to retain AI developments within Tesla, potentially posing a governance challenge. The FY ’23 results and ’24 outlook will be revealed on January 24th.

Shares of TSLA are down 2.48% in pre-market trading Wednesday morning.