11:28 AM EDT, 04/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Tesla's (TSLA) Q1 deliveries were an "unmitigated disaster" that could be followed by "some darker days" if Chief Executive Elon Musk fails to reverse the trend, Wedbush said in a note to clients Tuesday.

The electric vehicle maker said Tuesday it delivered 386,810 vehicles in Q1. That was below the Street's expectations of around 443,000 vehicles, according to the note. Tesla also produced 433,371 vehicles in the quarter, compared with the consensus estimate of 452,976 from analysts polled by Bloomberg.

"While we were anticipating a bad 1Q, this was an unmitigated disaster 1Q that is hard to explain away," Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives, said. "We view this as a seminal moment in the Tesla story for Musk to either turn this around and reverse the black eye 1Q performance."

The analysts said that this period is a "fork in the road" for Musk, who will need to "quickly take the reins back in" to regain confidence. "Otherwise, some darker days could clearly be ahead that could disrupt the long-term Tesla narrative" Wedbush said.

That said, the analysts remain "bullish" on the long-term narrative for Tesla given growth prospects and the EV/FSD potential over the coming quarters.

Wedbush maintained its outperform rating on Tesla's stock, with a price target of $300.

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