Tesla shares dropped significantly today after word of executive resignations hit the press. A video of Elon Musk (CEO) smoking pot on the Joe Rogan podcast send shareholders over the edge. This seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back, capping off a poor performing month. Elon Musk smoking pot has arguably impacted the Tesla share price more than the tweet of Tesla going private.
Friday saw the chief accounting officer, Dave Morton, announce his resignation. Despite being at the company only one month, he is quotes as saying the primary reason for leaving was due to intense public attention. This was his statement:
“Since I joined Tesla on August 6, the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations,” Morton said in a statement. “As a result, this caused me to reconsider my future.”
The news of Tesla’s HR chief, Gaby Toledano, leaving the company came on Friday. Gaby and Tesla are yet to make a comment on her resignation.
The start of this week, Elon Musk returned to feuding with a British cave explorer who aided in rescuing a boy’s soccer team from a cave in Thailand earlier this year. This may also contribute to the falling price of Tesla shares. This followed from a tweet of Musk saying that he is “considering taking Tesla private.” Musk mentioned that if Tesla was to go private, it would float at $420, which is around 61% higher than the current price of Tesla’s stock. Short seller Andrew Left is suing Elon Musk for alleged stock manipulation after his “taking Tesla private” tweets. This is adding onto a investigation that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened relating to this incident.
The Future Of Tesla Stock
In Q2, Tesla delivered 40,740 vehicles. Reports came in on Tuesday about Tesla missing Model 3 production targets of 6,000 a week across August. Those numbers have not been backed up by official reports as yet.
After the news about missing production targets, Goldman Sachs gave Tesla a sell rating. Analysts at Sachs predict a 30% drop in the share price in the next six months. Competition is also arriving as Mercedes Benz announced their first all-electric car this week.
The next few months will see what Tesla has in store for shareholders. As more Model 3 units get produced and delivered to customers, we can expect to see the stock price to increase. TSLA shareholders will also benefit from Tesla lowering development costs, which may be the case in the near future. Analysts are looking as Tesla’s cash burn as a downside and production levels as unsustainable. For the first time, there may be some real competition for Tesla. Bulls are more optimistic, citing next-generation automotive capabilities. Some traders expect Tesla to turn a profit by the end of 2018.
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