What Happened?
Shares of electric vehicle pioneer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 4.1% in the afternoon session after reports the company is recalling up to 27,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. due to "rearview camera image delays." Following the recall, updates to fix any potential issue can be expected to be deployed through service centers and sometimes over the air via software updates.
Also, there are reports that Tesla no longer lists a version of the Model 3 (standard range, rear-wheel-drive for sale in the U.S.) on its website. Overall, the updates aren't encouraging and suggest Tesla might face a tough hurdle in beating expectations heading into the last quarter of the year.
Lastly, Bloomberg reported that Chief Information Officer Nagesh Saldi is leaving Tesla. According to the sources, Saldi was involved in Tesla's efforts to build new data centers in Texas and New York. Some of these efforts could be critical to Tesla's moves to expand its computing capacity as it infuses artificial intelligence technology into its autonomous driving solutions. The announcement is also coming in days before Tesla releases new Robotaxi prototypes.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Tesla’s shares are very volatile and have had 28 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was a day ago when the stock dropped 6.1% on the news that the company reported Q3 2024 electric vehicle (EV) deliveries of 462,890, below analysts' estimates. The stock's reaction hints at potential concerns on the demand side of its EV business. Notably, growth has been slower than expected in recent quarters, with deliveries in the first six months of 2024 down roughly 7% year on year.
Tesla is down 4% since the beginning of the year, and at $238.83 per share, it is trading 9.4% below its 52-week high of $263.62 from October 2023. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Tesla’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $15,373.
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