Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) made a new 52-week low this morning on reports that CEO Elon Musk failed to keep a promise to shareholders that he made earlier this year.
Musk continues to sell shares of Tesla Inc
In August, the billionaire said he won’t sell any more of Tesla shares to fund his $44 billion takeover of Twitter. But the SEC filings, on Wednesday, confirm that he has trimmed his stake by another $3.95 billion in recent weeks.
In total, Musk has now sold nearly $19 billion worth of Tesla shares this year.
For the year, the stock is now down more than 50% as investors construe the Twitter deal as a distraction, particularly since Musk is already running several other companies, including SpaceX and the Boring Company, which begs the question, “how much can one man do, after all”.
Musk himself told the legendary investor Ron Baron at a conference last week that his workload, following the Twitter buyout, increased to something like 120 hours versus 78 hours before.
On the bright side, he says his role as the Chief Executive and Sole Director of the social network will only be temporary. For now, though, he’s pulled several engineers from Tesla to Twitter, further adding to shareholder agitation.
Other headwinds hitting the Tesla stock
Those interested in buying Tesla shares at the current discount should also consider that the EV giant is facing several other headwinds as well.
To begin with, China continues to wrestle with the COVID lockdowns. On top of that, the U.S. Fed has signalled no intent of “pausing” just yet. It expects the terminal rate to actually be higher than previously expected, which means a tougher environment ahead for the growth-oriented stocks like Tesla Inc.
Then, of course, there’s the fear of recession that could hurt consumer spending and ultimately weigh on sales. Tesla already had weaker-than-expected sales in its latest reported quarter as Invezz covered here.