Tesla stock is tumbling again amid tariff fears and a weekend of protests

• Tesla stock dropped 7% on Monday after an analyst price target cut and a weekend of protests against the company.
• Wedbush said that US auto tariffs will force Tesla to raise its prices.
• Meanwhile, Stifel cut its price target due to the Model Y rollout and growing anti-Musk sentiment.

Tesla's stock price decline continued on Monday amid a flurry of negative headlines.

The stock dropped as much as 7% to $243.36, and is down about 15% since last week's peak of just under $300.

Here's what's moving the stock lower on Monday.

Tesla can't dodge the full impact of tariffs

President Donald Trump's tariff deadline looms on Wednesday, and auto tariffs will likely hit Tesla despite early assessments that the company was more insulated from the duties.

The EV maker was viewed as a winner from Trump's tariffs because it builds the bulk of its cars in America, but Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the company could still take a hit because of tariffs on auto parts.

"Even US automakers that produce cars in the US have ~40%-50% of auto parts that come from abroad," Ives said in a note on Monday. "A US car with all US parts made int he US is a fictional tale not even possible today."

Ives added, "The winner in our view from this tariff is no one… as even Tesla still is clearly hit from these tariffs and will be forced to raise prices."

Tesla protests

Sentiment has soured this week after protests against Elon Musk and Tesla escalated in recent days, with over 200 "Tesla Takedown" protests reportedly taking place over the weekend.

BI visited two protests over the weekend and counted nearly 400 protesters outside of a Tesla showroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

BI tech reporter Lakshmi Varanasi highlighted that sentiment against Musk and Tesla has worsened considerably since the billionaire's involvement in the Trump administration.

"I was a big fan originally. I wanted to buy a Tesla," 69-year-old Judah Garber told Varanasi. "I'm really most concerned now with his actions in his unelected role as, you know, a random people-cutter," he said.

The Tesla protests are spreading. A fire at a Tesla dealership in Rome, Italy destroyed 17 cars. Italian fire officials said it was investigating "all avenues" of how the fire started.

Stifel price-target cut

Analysts at Stifel cut their Tesla price target to $455 from $474 and lowered their vehicle delivery forecasts.

"We are reducing our near-term delivery forecasts to reflect the rollout of the new Model Y as well as headwinds from the anti-Elon Musk crowd," Stifel said in a note on Sunday.

Tesla is in the process of ramping up production of its refreshed Model Y, dubbed "Jupiter." While Stifel sees the new model refresh as juicing sales in the long term, in the near term, it's a headwind for sales as production ramps up.

Stifel also highlighted that Tesla's favorability rating with Democrats has plunged, which is a problem considering that Democrats are seen as more likely to purchase an electric vehicle than Republicans.

A rising protest movement against Tesla also isn't helping sales, according to Stifel.

"Protests against Elon Musk (damage to Tesla sites, vandalism of customer-owned cars, damage to Superchargers) is a headwind to sales," Stifel said.