Shares in Tesla fell 6.6 percent yesterday after Elon Musk’s electric car maker reported its first annual sales decline in more than a decade amid stiff competition.
The Texas company’s value has soared since the US presidential election, in which Musk (pictured) supported the winning candidate, Donald Trump.
This has helped Musk’s personal fortune surpass $400bn (£323bn).
But Wall Street was disappointed with sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the fourth quarter.
Incentives such as discounts have failed to boost demand for the older model line amid stiff competition from rivals including China’s BYD.
Tesla shipped 495,570 vehicles in the three months ended Dec. 31, missing estimates of 503,269 units.
Tesla has risen in value since the US presidential election in which Musk (pictured) endorsed the winning candidate Donald Trump
Deliveries for 2024 were 1.79 million – down 1.1 percent from a year ago. Yesterday, BYD reported a 41 percent jump in electric vehicle sales to 1.77 million.
It was the first time Tesla reported a drop in annual deliveries since 2011. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Tesla has shone.’
But analysts at Wedbush say a Trump presidency will accelerate Tesla’s growth.
They said: ‘We have always viewed Musk and Tesla as a leading global player in disruptive technology, and the first part of this grand strategic vision has taken shape over the past five years.
‘The next step in this broader strategic vision is an era of autonomy and artificial intelligence that will accelerate under the Trump White House.’
[…] chips; then there was a major market shift away from electric cars just as competition from Tesla ( TSLA ) was heating up. The company has undergone an extensive cost-cutting campaign, reducing the […]