Elon Musk
Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Cowen initiated coverage on Elon Musk's Tesla with an underperform rating, citing the likelihood the company will miss vehicle production targets and the need for more funding.
"We see risk to the story in the near term given pending launch of the Model 3 and Gigafactory — both imperative to reaching sustained profitability," analyst Jeffrey Osborne wrote in a note to clients Thursday.
"New initiatives in the trucking and bus markets seem like a stretch to us given lower volumes, longer sales cycles and heavy R&D needs. Integration of SolarCity likely will take some time and soak up badly needed cash."
