Piper says ‘hard to draw meaningful conclusions’ from ‘messy’ Tesla China data

Following the overnight release of Tesla’s monthly sales figures in China from the China Passenger Car Association, or CPCA, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter said he has “been exchanging emails with confused clients all morning.” While he contends that monthly figures are “always hard to interpret,” this was “especially the case in April” given that there were several complicating factors. Potter, who argues that it is “hard to draw meaningful conclusions” based on such “messy” data, said he prefers to examine Tesla’s market share on a trailing three-month basis and avoid extrapolating based on the most recent month of data, whether good or bad. Potter maintains an Overweight rating and $1,200 price target on Tesla shares.