Tesla shares fall for a second straight session on Monday, CEO Musk attempts to soothe environmental concerns at German site

Tesla Inc’s (TSLA) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk attempted to soothe environmental concerns regarding the company’s planned facility in Germany, as he said that less water would be used than initially estimated.

In planning documents, the electric car maker had stated that the facility would require 372 cubic meters of water per hour from the public drinking water network. That led to protests by residents in the area earlier in January.

In November, Tesla had revealed intentions to establish its first European auto plant in Gruenheide in the state of Brandenburg.

Tesla shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Monday. The stock went down 1.20% ($6.80) to $558.02, after touching an intraday low at $539.40, or a price level not seen since January 21st ($528.41).

Shares of Tesla Inc have risen 33.39% so far in 2020 compared with a 2.51% gain for the benchmark index, Nasdaq 100 (NDX).

In 2019, Tesla’s stock went up 25.70%, thus, it underperformed the Nasdaq 100, which registered a 37.96% gain.

“Sounds like we need to clear up a few things! Tesla won’t use this much net water on a daily basis. It’s possibly a rare peak usage case, but not an everyday event,” Elon Musk said in a tweet over the weekend, cited by Reuters.

Additionally, Tesla’s CEO said that just a small part of the forest on the site, that was purchased by the company near Berlin, would be cut for the planned facility’s construction.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 30 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Tesla Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $351.00, with a high estimate of $734.00 and a low estimate of $200.00. The median estimate represents a 37.10% downside compared to the closing price of $558.02 on January 27th.

The same media also reported that at least 11 out of 33 surveyed investment analysts had rated Tesla Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while other 11 – as “Sell”. On the other hand, 9 analysts had recommended buying the stock.