Tesla Erases US$700 Billion ‘Trump Bump’ as Sales Slide

A slide in Tesla Inc. on Friday is capping off a round trip of epic proportions in the company’s shares.

Expectations that the electric-vehicle maker would benefit from chief executive Elon Musk’s close relationship with President Donald Trump made its stock one of the top gainers following the Nov. 5 election. That bet, however, has been no match for growing anxiety about Tesla’s core business of selling cars.

Tesla’s shares were down 4.6 per cent at 11:53 on Friday, on track to erase their entire US$700 billion post-election advance. The decline comes alongside a series of blows that have shaken investor confidence in recent weeks, from a January report showing that sales dropped for the first time in a decade last quarter to more recent evidence of Tesla losing its dominant position in Europe and China. Some investors have also grown worried that Musk’s foray into politics has become a distraction from his job as the EV-giant’s CEO.

“The bet on Tesla’s shares soaring due to Musk’s political involvement has not worked out thus far,” said Adam Sarhan, founder of 50 Park Investments. “Investors who initially anticipated massive benefits from Musk’s political involvement got too excited, and now cooler heads are prevailing.”

The broader market environment is also proving a headwind, with the speculative frenzy that pushed stocks to record highs following the election smothered by worries over United States trade policy and economic growth. The S&P 500 is down more than seven per cent from its high while the Nasdaq 100 has tumbled into a correction.

Bank of America analyst John Murphy on Tuesday slashed his price target on the stock to US$380 from US$490, noting concerns about new car sales, lack of news on a potential low-cost model and risk to the company’s robotaxi launch.

To be sure, the rapid decline in Tesla’s shares has pushed them into what chart-followers call an oversold zone, opening the way for a potential short-term bounce, according to some technical analysts. Catalysts could include signs that sales are ticking higher, an update from the company on its robotaxi, or a return of risk appetite to equity markets.

Still, any potential rally would also have to overcome investor unease over the company’s valuation: Tesla trades at 88 times forward earnings, compared with 21 for the S&P 500 Index.

“Tesla’s forward price-to-earnings ratio is still very close to 90,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “So, the shares are still very expensive.”