Elon Musk has reached out to reassure Tesla Inc. (TSLA) employees after a challenging six weeks marked by a significant drop in the company’s shares, describing the situation as “a little bit of stormy weather.”
Since the first week of February, Tesla shares have faced persistent bearish pressure, resulting in a drop of over 35% in value.
Musk explained that the company is simply undergoing a typical stock retracement, but he believes the media is amplifying the situation unnecessarily.
In an all-hands meeting broadcast late Thursday on X, Musk remarked, “If you read the news, it feels like Armageddon. I understand if you don’t want to buy our product, but you don’t have to burn it down.”
He urged shareholders to rise above the noise, saying, “What I’m saying is hang on to your stock.”
Musk reaffirmed his belief in the company’s bright future, stating that the retracement is merely a rocky phase that stocks encounter.
Market trend in 2025
Tesla began 2025 at $390.10, showing slight positivity, with most of the company’s gains occurring in the third week of January.
- However, since the first week of February, the stock has experienced a sharp decline, plummeting below the $300 mark and closing February at $292.98.
- As of March 21, TSLA has lost over 35% of its share price since February, with more than 2 billion shares exchanged to date.
Performance
Tesla’s revenue increased by only 2% year-over-year in Q4 2024, reaching $25.17 billion.
- However, automotive revenue fell 8% year-over-year, dropping to $19.8 billion from $21.56 billion in the same quarter in 2023.
- Operating income also declined, down 23% year-over-year to $1.6 billion.
The company attributed this downturn to reduced average selling prices across its Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X lines.
- Net income saw a staggering 71% drop from the previous year, totalling $2.32 billion, compared to $7.93 billion a year earlier. Last year’s net income was boosted by a $5.9 billion one-time noncash tax benefit.
While Tesla did not provide specific guidance for the current year, the company stated, “We expect the vehicle business to return to growth in 2025.”
After a significant rally since Trump’s victory in November, where investors anticipated that Musk’s influence would elevate the stock price, the reality has been quite the opposite in the first quarter of 2025.
