Rating Quick Look | Tesla's rating and target price both significantly lowered! Tencent and Apple are viewed favorably

Deutsche Bank: Downgrades Tesla's rating from "Buy" to "Hold", lowers target price from $189 to $123

The bank pointed out that the launch of the affordable car Model 2 is likely to be delayed, and the company is shifting its strategic focus to the robot taxi business, which is seen to have management risks and will take several years.

"The delay of Model 2 may result in Tesla's consumer product line having no new cars in the foreseeable future, which will bring sustained downward pressure on Tesla's sales and pricing for many years to come, requiring a downward adjustment of earnings expectations after 2026."

The bank believes that Tesla's strategic shift is a thematic transformation, and they are concerned that Tesla's shareholder base will undergo a potentially painful transformation from investors focusing on Tesla's scale and car gross margin advantages to investors focusing on the long-term rise in artificial intelligence/technology space.

"Without any new cars, we believe Tesla may face more growth resistance as competition intensifies from China and other original equipment manufacturers, and the company may struggle with limited free cash flow."

Bernstein: Maintains "Market Perform" rating for Apple, target price at $195

"We expect most artificial intelligence features to be released with the iPhone in September, rather than at the Worldwide Developers Conference, like other key software features such as Dynamic Island, Siri, and Facetime, all of which are introduced when the phone is released. We believe the timeline for AI features like Multi-Modal Siri and AI Health Coach is less clear."

BOC International: Maintains "Buy" rating for Tencent Holdings, target price at HK$407

The bank expects Tencent's revenue to grow moderately by 5% year-on-year to RMB 157 billion; gross margin and adjusted net profit margin are expected to reach market expectations of 49.7% and 27.3% respectively.

The bank believes that Tencent's focus on high-quality growth strategy provides clear certainty for future financial conditions, expecting accelerated revenue growth from the second quarter to the fourth quarter, along with a strong capital return plan.

UBS: Gives JD.com a "Buy" rating, target price at $37

The bank believes that although JD.com's future buyback pace may change, it is believed to be sustainable with its strong cash position and free cash flow.

Despite JD.com's strong cash position in recent years (accounting for about 50% to 60% of market value) and consistently exceeding gross margin expectations, the group's valuation multiples have been under pressure. The bank believes that due to the low previous shareholder returns, investors have not paid much attention to its cash balance. However, the announcement made by the group yesterday should send a strong message and commitment to the market, thereby unlocking shareholder value.

Additionally, the bank believes that this year is JD.com's execution year, with user investment and merchant ecosystem remaining key focus areas. Given the group's strong free cash flow (the bank predicts $7 billion in the 2024 fiscal year), there is room for accelerated buybacks and rising shareholder returns.

CMB International Securities: Maintains "Hold" rating for XPeng Motors-W, lowers target price to HK$41

In response to the slower-than-expected pace of company channel adjustments and intensified market competition, the bank has lowered XPeng's sales forecasts for 2024 to 2026 by 16%, 10%, and 14%, with net loss forecasts for the current and next year expanding by 7% and 8%, and a 9% narrowing in the 2026 forecast.

The report states that the company's first-quarter delivery data met expectations, with a total of 22,000 new vehicles delivered, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%, in line with the company's guidance of 21,000 to 22,500 vehicles.

However, the bank pointed out that data from March 4th to April 14th showed weaker-than-expected sales recovery progress for the company, with an average weekly sales volume of about 2,100 vehicles in March, but dropping to an average of 1,200 and 1,600 vehicles in the first two weeks of April, a significant decline indicating weak short-term sales performance.

The bank noted that market competition continues to intensify, with Xiaomi Group's launch of the SU7 at the end of March attracting market attention, affecting sales of pure electric vehicles at the same price point. XPeng has already reduced the prices of the P7i Pengyi Edition and G6 series, expecting sales to stabilize after the price cuts, while the introduction of the new brand MONA is anticipated to show positive effects with the expansion of channels in the third quarter