Tesla shares plunged more than 14 percent on Tuesday amid fears about weakening demand and logistical issues that have hampered deliveries. Once worth more than $1billion, Tesla has lost more than 65 percent of its market value in 2022.
Tuesday’s setback knocked off almost $60billion in market value, equal to the valuation of rival Ford that sold three times as many cars as Tesla last year.
It comes as Tesla missed market expectations for a four quarter despite shipping a record number of vehicles.
The company’s stock was the worst performer on the benchmark S&P 500 index on Tuesday as it crashed to $105.
On Tuesday morning it was the second most traded stock on US exchanges with almost 142 million shares changing hands.
A number of Wall Street analysts have said that they expect more pressure on the stock in the next few months as pressure from rivals intensifies and global demand slows.
At least four brokerages cut their price targets and earnings estimates on Tuesday.
They cited the deliveries missed by Tesla as well as the company’s decision to introduce more incentives to boost demand in the two biggest global auto markets China and the US.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives argued that Tesla may need to cut prices in China in order to stimulate sales in that country.
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He said: “You have so many things working against the stock.
“One obviously is Musk’s involvement in Twitter.”
Tesla’s market value has declined by about $400billion since Mr Musk secured financing to buy social media platform Twitter.
