Global Sales and Elon Musk’s increasingly outspoken political activity are shaking Tesla’s value.
The once-dollar company stocks saw its worst day in five years this week. Tesla shares plummeted 36% each year, but still have an increase of around 54% over the past 12 months.
For Musk, Tesla’s stock remains a source of his major paper wealth, but he has transformed SpaceX stock into a personal lending tool. However, it was the revenue from sales of Tesla stock that helped Musk complete the acquisition of Twitter, now known as X.
Musk’s wealth also allowed him to support Donald Trump’s Vault in his second presidential term. Even if Musk’s net worth has declined as a result of Tesla’s recent stock price decline, the data suggests he is not at risk of losing his title as the wealthiest person in the world.
The mask is X and says he’s not worried about Tesla’s recent decline in value. Still, the evidence suggests that the company is in a transitional phase.
A Tesla spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk’s wealth drives him to an unprecedented global presence, polarizing the world’s views about technological entrepreneurs in the process. Therefore, the weakening of his financial position could undermine his influence in the political and technical spaces that he is currently attracting attention. Sales in the US in Europe increased by about 50% in January.
Some say this comes from the disgust for Musk, who began dabbling in continental politics after his successful support for Trump’s candidacy last year.
Others note that Tesla’s European market is facing increasing competition with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, who telegraphed an ambitious plan for expansion on the continent.
A more decisive blow to Tesla’s short-term fate could be coming from China itself. Tesla shipments plummeted 49% to just 30,688 vehicles in February from the previous year, according to official data cited by Bloomberg News. This is the lowest number of months registered since July 2022, Bloomberg said.
Tesla is currently facing fierce competition with other Chinese EV manufacturers, including BYD.
Still, Chinese officials also warned of the implications of masks’ famous politics.
“As a successful businessman, you should accept 100% of the market. You will treat everyone well and everyone will be in great return,” the Chinese Passenger and Automobile Association chief said in a briefing on Monday. “But looking at it from a vote perspective, half of the voters are friendly to you, and half of them aren’t.”
“This is an inevitable risk that comes after he has achieved personal glory,” secretary Cui Dongshu said Monday, referring to Musk.
On Friday, Reuters reported that Tesla plans to sell at least 20% less Model Y to produce to protect Chinese stocks.
In the US, Tesla’s January sales fell by around 11%, according to data from the S&P Global Analytics Group. This is an outlier when EV sales for all other brands are high in the US.
He has long worn multiple proverb hats, but his role as the nominal head of the government’s Department of Efficiency may be his most consequential. And it may be important for Tesla’s wealth to influence the Trump administration. This week, Trump appeared to be further solidifying his Trump Mask Alliance, pledging to buy Tesla in a flashy presentation on the White House lawn.
On X (he owns a social media platform), Musk’s enthusiastic posts are increasingly focused on politics and the American culture war, which occasionally nods to SpaceX’s launch.
His obviously turned down role in the Trump administration — he left the White House last weekend with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnic — has led to a boycott of Europe, protesting and even vandalism against American car owners.
“When people’s cars are at risk of being locked or set on fire, even those who are in support of Musk or indifferent to Musk may be thinking about buying Tesla again,” Baird analyst told CNBC’s “On the Street.”
In a note to clients this week, JPMorgan analysts said the damage to Tesla’s brand is severe as they downgrade delivery estimates.
“We struggle to think of similarities in the history of the automotive industry. The brands lost value very quickly,” they wrote.
Tesla itself has warned of radioactive measures from retaliatory measures taken by countries that targeted Trump’s tariffs, and in a letter to US trade representatives this week, the company said the company is “exposed to disproportionate effects when other countries respond to US trade measures.”
Already, British Columbia Canada has announced it will end subsidies for Tesla products.
Concerns about the Tesla product itself keep investors and analysts equally at night, as all oxygen masks have worked on his political activities.
Musk ignores the rest of Tesla’s automotive business (edited) For the past six years, by the end of each year, Tesla has believed that it could flip the switch and drive autonomously.
Meanwhile, Musk decided to kill Tesla’s cheap, $25,000 model.
“Tesla’s core business continues to sell cars and batteries,” he writes. “There’s no doubt that the car sales business is not going well for Tesla right now. Under Musk, there’s no clear path to improvement.”
In contrast, many analysts have been watching Tesla’s outlook for a much longer period. In his latest note to clients about the company, Adam Jonas, an analyst for Morgan Stanley, one of Tesla’s most closely watched observers, summarised the long-term outlook that he says continues to justify the company’s eye water ratings.
“Tesla’s softer automatic delivery symbolizes the company in the transition from “pure play” in the car to a highly diverse play of AI and robotics,” he wrote in a note on March 2.
That was before the latest sales intensified, but Jonas said he was already discounting the market turnover.
“While the journey may be volatile and non-linear, we believe 2025 will be a year when investors will continue to appreciate and appreciate these existing and early industries of embodied AI that Tesla believes to have established a material competitive advantage,” he writes.
