Tesla stock is approaching some key support levels. Investors better buckle up for trading volatility.
The electric-vehicle maker’s (ticker: TSLA) stock chart looks like a mountain range, with lots of steep slopes. After a recent climb that took shares close to $280 apiece, it looks like the stock is coming down the other side of the peak.
“The immediate concern is seeing the stock potentially breaking below [a] steep uptrend line,” said CappThesis founder and market technician Frank Cappelleri. “Similar trendline breaks led to quick downside action the last three times in 2023.”
Tesla stock went from roughly $220 to $280 in a heartbeat. But now, the shares are threatening to break below $260. If they do, $240 is in play, according to Cappelleri’s charts.
The reason for recent weakness doesn’t appear to be related to the company. “The market is in a corrective phase,” said John Roque, senior managing director and head of technical strategy at 22V Research. “Tesla is not likely to be immune.”
How far the stock can fall is a key question for investors. Beyond the $240 Cappelleri flagged, “key support for Tesla is near $218,” said Fairlead Strategies analyst Will Tamplin. That is the level where a recent rally for the stock started in mid-August and another price for investors to watch.
None of the three’s comments represent a call about the prospects for Tesla’s business. Like other technical analysts, they draw lessons from what stock charts say about past trading to give investors and traders a sense of where things are going over the short- and medium-term.
The approach is well suited to Tesla stock. The shares tend to go up and down rapidly, becoming oversold or overbought several times a year as too much good news or bad news is reflected in the price.
It happens a lot with Tesla stock because investors in the company, and analysts, tend to be a little extreme. ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood expects Tesla to hit $2,000 a share in coming years. GLJ Research analyst Gordon Johnson believes Tesla is worth about $24 a share.
The $1,900-plus difference is almost eight times the current stock price of about $257 a share, a gap that represents more than $6 trillion in market capitalization. There just aren’t many stocks investors that are as controversial as Tesla.
Not everyone, of course, tries to make trading gains with stocks they hold in their portfolio. Some just leave them alone, seeking to score as shares gain value over time.
Tesla stock dropped 1.3% in premarket trading after falling 4.2% on last Friday trading.