Saturday 21 May 2022 04:37 AM Tesla stock is down almost 45% since January trends now
Tesla's share price fell yet further on Friday to close 6.42 percent down, as the company reeled from revelations that their founder Elon Musk paid off a sexual harassment accuser, and the ongoing unsettling impact of his bid to buy Twitter.
Musk, 50, has seen his company's share price tank 40 percent since April 4.
The company has been hit with supply chain issues, and is struggling to compensate for the lockdowns that continue in China, causing delays in essential components.
It is also facing a growing threat from other manufacturers of electric vehicles: Volkswagen sold 56,000 battery-powered cars in Western Europe during the first three months of the year, almost catching Tesla, which sold 58,000.
Last month the S&P 500 ESG Index, a listing of companies that meet certain environmental, social and governance standards, kicked Tesla out of its listings, citing allegations of racial discrimination and poor working conditions at its factories. Musk said it was a 'scam' and based on prejudice against him.
Elon Musk is seen in September 2020 at the site of a future Tesla factory on the outskirts of the German capital, Berlin. His company's shares at the time were valued at $407
Tesla's shares are down almost 45 percent so far this year, and have plunged in the last month
Furthermore, investors are questioning whether the company, worth $1 trillion, has been over-valued, and it too closely aligned with its mercurial owners.
Musk famously fired his communications team in October 2020, and handles the issue himself, with eyebrow-raising results.
His online presence reinforces the perception that Tesla lacks an independent board of directors, which would help stop him from damaging the business.
'From a corporate good governance perspective Tesla has a lot of red flags,' said Andrew Poreda, a senior analyst who specializes in socially responsible investing at Sage Advisory Services, an investment firm in Austin, Texas.
He told The New York Times: 'There are almost no checks and balances.'
Tesla's share price has declined significantly since his April 25 deal was agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
The share price decline has complicated Musk's bid, because it has reduced the capital he can put into the company.
Musk lost $15.7 billion of his net worth last week, as shares of his electric vehicle maker fell by 8 percent.
Tesla's factory in Shanghai. The lockdowns in China have hit Tesla's supply chain hard
A Tesla vehicle is seen at a Manhattan dealership in January
Musk is seen in March 2022 in Berlin with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, celebrating the start of production
The company's share price peaked in November, at $1,222.
At the beginning of this year it was at $1,999, but has sharply dropped off since.
Still, the share price is indeed up from a year ago: in May 2021, Tesla shares were valued at $580.
His Twitter bid has certainly not helped, as it has put Musk himself front and center in his businesses.
The billionaire's latest comments on politics and a claim of sexual harassment against him that he said is untrue may hurt the brand in the eyes of some car owners and employees.
Musk on Thursday denied a report by Business Insider that he sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016, calling the person who made the claim a liar.
The previous day, the Tesla chief executive, in the midst of a contentious effort to buy Twitter Inc, said he would now vote Republican instead of Democrat and called the Democrats a 'party of division and hate.'
While Musk has made attention-grabbing headlines before - once calling one critic a 'pedo guy' on Twitter - the latest controversies again raise the question whether his outspokenness will tarnish his likeability.
Musk is seen in Berlin in March, opening his newest production facility
And - since Musk is so closely tied to Tesla - whether that will that hurt the carmaker's sales, especially in California.
The left-leaning state is Tesla's largest market, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the company's U.S. retail registrations last year, according to Experian data.
Tesla sales in California were up almost 70 percent in the year and it had a 6.5 percent share of all vehicles in the state, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.
#BoycottTesla was trending on Twitter on Friday and several people claimed they were canceling their car orders.
'In the past, I admired him for working to build a green business that's transformational in energy use. But he is sadly becoming divisive as an attention seeking troll and I no longer trust that he is dedicated to the quality of his products. I will cancel my Tesla order,' said J Yeh, a Twitter user who describes herself as a lawyer who has lived in several cities including Los Angeles.
'You lost a potential customer,' a Twitter user named Ute Bauer from Germany said, adding in German: 'To anyone reading this, cancel your orders.'
Many institutional investors may stand by Musk no matter what, given the company's strong performance in the last 12 months, but that doesn't mean some aren't frustrated.
'They're doing a lot of good things,' said Taylor Ogan, CEO of Snow Bull Capital, which owns Tesla shares.
'It's just disappointing when that is tainted by Elon Musk's antics.
'Elon Musk is the best thing for Tesla and the worst thing for Tesla.'
One Tesla employee, who asked not to be identified, voiced frustration that Musk's efforts outside Tesla appeared to be hurting the carmaker's stock.
'The company needs to do something to
