Tesla stock has dropped to its lowest level in more than two years, as the electric carmaker plans to shorten its production cycle and investors are concerned about Elon Musk’s time spent managing Twitter.
Musk sent an email to Tesla employees, telling them not to be “bothered by stock market craziness” and that Tesla will be the most valuable company on the planet in the long run.
“Please go all out for the next few days and volunteer to help deliver if at all possible. It will make a real difference!” he said in the email.
“Btw, don’t be too bothered by stock market craziness. As we demonstrate continued excellent performance, the market will recognise that,” he said.
“Long-term, I believe very much that Tesla will be the most valuable company on Earth!”
The market value of the automaker dropped by $720 billion (£599 billion) as of Wednesday afternoon, when shares of Tesla could be purchased for $108.71 (£90.45), a low last seen in August 2020 and a decline from a high of $407.36 (£338.93) in November 2021.
The price of a share has dropped 70% over the course of the year, putting it on pace to rank among the five companies with the largest losses among the 500 large US-listed companies included in the S&P 500 index.
Tesla’s share losses significantly outpaced the benchmark loss of 20%, which occurred as the value of US stocks fell over the course of 2022.
Musk assumed control of the social media company in October after ending his legal dispute regarding the alleged prevalence of bot accounts on the website and closing the deal for approximately $44 billion (£36.6 billion). During his tenure, the site’s operations underwent a redesign and thousands of jobs were eliminated.
Investors worry that the acquisition has monopolized the attention of the former world’s richest man, who recently assumed the position of CEO of Twitter.
Tesla’s fortunes have been mixed as it planned to reduce production at its Shanghai factory, but it also continued to grow profit, recording $3.3 billion (£2.74 billion) in profit in its most recent earnings report for the third quarter of 2022.
According to Reuters, the intention is to extend this month’s lunar new year shutdown into a longer one.
It’s not the first time production will be sluggish; despite producing a record number of cars, the manufacturer fell short of its output goals for the third quarter of this year.
Given the rise in COVID-19 cases in China, where some Tesla factories are located, it is anticipated that it will take some time for production to pick up.
In its most recent earnings report, the company also made the prediction that, over the long term, problems with the battery supply chain will be the main thing holding back the market for electric vehicles.
Investors are equally concerned about weaker demand and increased competition in the electric vehicle market as traditional automakers switch to electric production in addition to slower production.
