Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s fortunes have taken a significant hit as the company’s shares stumbled following an analyst downgrade and disappointing quarterly reports from smaller electric vehicle rivals.
Tesla’s share price took a nosedive on Thursday, falling 5.5% to $210, after HSBC analyst Michael Tyndall initiated coverage on the stock with a sell rating and a price target of $133. Tyndall’s downgrade is the latest sign that investors are becoming more cautious about Tesla’s stock, which has been volatile in recent months.
The sell rating comes at a time when Tesla is facing a number of challenges, including increasing competition from rivals, rising costs and supply chain disruptions. The company is also facing scrutiny from regulators around the world over its self-driving technology and safety concerns.
According to Forbes, some other electric vehicle stocks are sliding, such as American electric carmakers Rivian (shares down 10% on Thursday) and Lucid (down 5%), after the pair each reported earnings that disappointed investors on Tuesday, with each company on track to burn through billions of dollars in cash this year.
Musk, who owns about 13% of Tesla, lost $8.7 billion on Thursday, more than $7 billion more than any other billionaire, according to Forbes’ calculations. Musk remains the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of $223.7 billion, but that is about $100 billion below his peak wealth of $320 billion in November 2021, when Tesla was valued at more than $1.2 trillion.
