Tesla Stocks Crater As Musk Sinks In Twitter Rabbit Hole

Shares in Tesla plunged by more than 8 percent in early trading on Tuesday as Elon Musk’s erratic Twitter ownership appeared to weigh heavily on the electric vehicle maker, Bevan Hurley reported for The Independent.

Photo Insert: Investors and analysts have blamed Tesla’s abysmal 2022 performance on Musk’s protracted takeover of Twitter and pointed to his embrace of far-right conspiracy theories as turning off many potential customers.

Tesla stock had cratered to under $113 by 12 p.m., setting a new 52-week low, and has lost more than two-thirds of its value since Musk first offered to purchase the social media platform in April.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen by 34 percent, or around half of Tesla’s losses, so far in 2022. CNBC reported that Tesla’s latest tailspin followed from the news that its Shanghai factory will reduce production in January after it was forced to shut down in December due to COVID lockdowns.

Investors and analysts have blamed Tesla’s abysmal 2022 performance on Musk’s protracted takeover of Twitter and pointed to his embrace of far-right conspiracy theories as turning off many potential customers.

“Musk is viewed as ‘asleep at the wheel’ from a leadership perspective for Tesla at the time investors need a CEO to navigate this Category 5 storm,” Wedbush Securities managing director and longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives wrote in a research note last week.

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