In a new note on Friday, Brinkman stayed the course with what is one of Wall Street's most bearish calls on Tesla. Brinkman maintained an Underweight rating on Tesla's stock (Sell rating equivalent) and a $145 price target, which assumes 61% downside in the stock from current levels.

The implicit understanding is that the cost-per-mile advantage of EVs will be even greater if they are used autonomously, resulting in an ultra-low cost per mile -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked of an operational cost per mile as low as $0.20 -- which will fundamentally change the transportation market.

Barclays held its Equal Weight rating on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) stock with a $360 price target following the company’s first-quarter report. The call reflects a clear tension: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is asking investors to fund a materially larger spending commitment while Robotaxi scaling and autonomy hardware questions remain unresolved.

Wall Street analysts expect Tesla Inc. to deliver a big jump in earnings when it reports Wednesday, something investors would have clamored for in the past.

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But earnings per share (EPS) of $0.41 came in higher than the estimated $0.37. However, the earnings report revealed one unchanging factor: Musk's love for Bitcoin (BTC). Related: Elon Musk showers love on Bitcoin again after a long hiatus Musk has frequently talked about his enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.