Tesla Plotting Restart At California Factory Next Week - Yahoo Finance

Tesla (TSLA) is planning to ask some employees to return to work at its factory in Fremont, California from next week, according to a report by Bloomberg. This request comes before the end of San Francisco’s lockdown period, where stay-at home directives are still in place due to Covid-19.

In fact, San Francisco Mayor London Breed revealed on April 24 that it ‘is very likely’ that the stay-at-home order could be extended past the current May 3 expiration date in the Bay area ‘by a few weeks or even a month.’

According to the Bloomberg report, supervisors asked staff from the Fremont factory’s paint and stamping unit to return to work on April 29. They then told workers to confirm if they intend to turn up for work on that date or not.

Given that the expiration date of the lockdown is May 3, Tesla had previously required workers to return on May 4- when the plant was supposed to begin normal production again.

The closure of the plant in the first place was a controversial point for Tesla, with analysts from Credit Suisse calculating that the shutdown was costing the electric-car maker approximately $300 million per week.

Tesla shares have exploded by 73% year-to-date, but the rally has left some analysts cautious that the stock has moved too far, too fast. TipRanks shows that TSLA scores a Hold analyst consensus with a $518 average price target- indicating downside potential of over 25%. (See Tesla stock analysis on TipRanks).

However Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney recently initiated coverage on TSLA with a buy rating and Street-high $864 price target (19% upside potential). Although he accepts that the shutdown of Tesla’s Fremont factory will weigh on 2020 results, Delaney nonetheless sees Tesla as “the clear market leader in electric vehicles (EVs) in terms of battery range and market share.”