Tesla shares dropped following entrances in the market by competitors. Tesla remains the top electric vehicle producer, but lags behind others in overall production.
Shares had previously dropped dramatically, but had since recovered when Tesla managed to deliver vehicles ahead of schedule. ABC News says:
“There have been quite a few competing electric vehicles that have entered the market and mostly, they have not done well, but they have discounted their EVs quite substantially, which has made it more a bit difficult for Tesla,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk told analysts on Wednesday.
Tesla shares plummeted more than 25% at the outset of 2024 but the company had recovered all of those losses this month after it released a better-than-expected report on vehicle deliveries. The stock price decline on Wednesday puts shares at their lowest level in more than three weeks.
Cheap Electric Vehicles are essential for the industry to compete with regular cars. Most current consumers are relatively wealthy individuals rather than working class. Yahoo Finance continues:
Many analysts and industry watchers think the debut and release of a cheaper EV will spur the next leg higher of EV sales — something even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said before.
On the earnings call, Musk said the company would reveal its robotaxi on Oct. 10, originally slated for Aug. 8. Musk said the extra time would allow Tesla to add “a couple other things” to the robotaxi prior to its unveil.
This could also impact Elon Musk’s own political goals as well. With large parts of his wealth tied to Tesla stocks, Musk might be forced to scale back his promised political donations or investments into X/Twitter.
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