Tesla faces Wall Street doubt as cash problems mount

As Elon Musk's Tesla plans big moves to acquire SolarCity and launch the affordable Model 3 sedan, not everyone is so high on the company's prospects.

In a note to investors Thursday, a Cowen & Co. analyst said the company's stock could fall 20% in the next 12 months as the company juggles the acquisition of Solar City, continues work on its Gigafactory battery center in Nevada, and launches its Model 3 car, set to be released next year. The battery center is facing potentially higher operating costs than initially expected. As for the Model 3, the company received about  400,000 pre-orders for the $35,000 sedan.

Tesla (TSLA) shares fell 2.16%  to close at $197.36 on Thursday.

"We see Tesla as a great company led by a true visionary,"   analyst Jeffrey Osborne. wrote in a note to investors.  "Simply, we see a lot more that can go wrong than can go right as the company transitions into Mr. Musk’s greater vision."

In August Tesla announced it would buy SolarCity, a company also chaired by Musk, for $2.6 billion.

But the biggest issue for Tesla seems to be cash, or a lack thereof. On Wednesday the company said it would borrow up to $300 million from Deutsche Bank to help finance the company's vehicle leasing program.

The "integration of SolarCity likely will take some time and soak up badly needed cash," warns Osborne, whose "underperform" investment rating assumes the stock will fall at least 10% in the next year.

"The company, while fundamentally well positioned for the long term, has a material amount of execution risk over the next 12 to 18 months."

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal