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Tesla shares started 2023 on another grim note, plunging nearly 14 percent on Tuesday afternoon after the company missed estimates for fourth-quarter deliveries despite shipping a record number of vehicles.

Once worth more than $1 trillion, Tesla lost nearly 65 percent in market value in a tumultuous 2022, erasing more than $400 billion from the company’s market capitalization.  

Tuesday’s slide knocked another $50 billion off Tesla’s value, roughly equal to the valuation of rival Ford, which last year sold three times as many cars as Tesla.

The latest selloff followed a downgrade of the stock by JPMorgan citing growing worries about weakening demand and logistical problems that have hampered deliveries for the world’s most valuable automaker. 

Tesla shares started 2023 on another grim note, plunging nearly 14 percent on Tuesday after the company missed estimates for fourth-quarter deliveries

Tesla shares started 2023 on another grim note, plunging nearly 14 percent on Tuesday after the company missed estimates for fourth-quarter deliveries

Tuesday’s decline made Tesla the worst S&P 500 performer for the day.

Several Wall Street analysts said they expected more pressure on the stock in coming months as it faces stiffer competition from other automakers and weaker global demand.

At least four brokerages cut their price targets and earnings estimates on Tuesday, pointing to the deliveries miss and Tesla’s decision to offer more incentives to boost demand in China and the United States, the two largest global auto markets.

‘Demand overall is starting to crack a bit for Tesla and the company will need to adjust and cut prices more especially in China, which remains the key to the growth story,’ Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said.

Global automakers have in the past few months battled a demand downturn in China, the world’s number one auto market, where the spread of COVID-19 has hit economic growth and consumer spending.

Tesla is offering hefty discounts there, as well as a subsidy for insurance costs.

Tesla's stock performance in 2022 was among the worst in the benchmark S&P 500 index

Tesla’s stock performance in 2022 was among the worst in the benchmark S&P 500 index

The electric-vehicle maker’s performance in 2022 was among the worst in the benchmark S&P 500 index. 

Tesla’s shares last traded at $107.11, and its market value has declined by about $400 billion since Chief Executive Elon Musk secured financing to buy social media firm Twitter.

Worth about $340 billion now, Tesla is still the world’s most valuable automaker, even though its production is a fraction of rivals such as Toyota.

Tesla delivered 405,278 vehicles in the fourth quarter, short of analysts’ estimates of 431,117, according to Refinitiv. For all of 2022, its deliveries rose by 40 percent, missing Musk’s 50 percent annual target.

The result ‘came at the cost of higher incentives, suggesting lower pricing and margin,’ brokerage J.P.Morgan said in a note, lowering its price target by $25 to $125.

The shortfall highlighted the logistics hurdles facing a company, which is known for its end-of-quarter delivery rush. 

The gap between production and deliveries has widened to 34,000 vehicles as more cars got stuck in transit.

The automaker also plans to run a reduced production schedule in January at its Shanghai plant, extending the lowered output it began in December into 2023, Reuters reported.

Last week, well-known tech stocks analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities shared an investor wish list of 10 actions to help Musk resurrect the company in 2023.

The first must-do is to name a new CEO of Twitter by the end of January, which Ives said is ‘key for Tesla’s stock.’

Analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities has shared an investor wish list of 10 actions to help Musk resurrect the company in 2023. With the first order of business urging Musk to find a new Twitter CEO

Analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities has shared an investor wish list of 10 actions to help Musk resurrect the company in 2023. With the first order of business urging Musk to find a new Twitter CEO

‘Musk needs to course correct this Twitter train wreck and it starts with a new CEO to lead the charge,’ Ives told DailyMail.com.

‘Musk started this five-alarm fire with Twitter. He is the only one that can extinguish it.’

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Most points on the list urge Musk to pull his attention away from Twitter and put it all back into Tesla in the new year.

Ives is a well-known Tesla bull who is not shy when sharing his thoughts about the company and its CEO.

He sent a separate email to journalists in November, revealing Wedbush had pulled Tesla from its Best Ideas List – and again, it was because of Musk’s ‘Twitter circus’ tarnishing the ‘pristine EV brand.’

However, Ives has not entirely given up on Tesla and Musk, hoping the 10 actions will help the billionaire reconcile with investors. 

Another wish among investors is for Musk to stop selling Tesla shares, which he has done to fund Twitter.

Earlier this month, Musk sold off another $3.58 billion in stocks, nearly 22 million shares – and he unloaded it all in three days.

While investors are watching the stocks plummet, Musk recently told employees that they should not be ‘bothered by stock market craziness’ after the company’s shares tanked nearly 70 percent this year.

The drastic fall has been attributed to jitters on softening demand for electric cars and Musk’s distraction with Twitter, which investors claim has damaged Tesla’s finances.

To this, Ives suggested Musk ‘formally adopt a 10b5-1 plan, so investors know there is no major selling block around the corner, as Musk sold roughly $40 billion of TSLA stock in the past year.’

Among Musk’s Twitter fiasco, Tesla’s missed deadlines have also impacted the company’s reputation.

Musk has long-promised deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck since it was first unveiled in 2019, and the world has yet to see the vehicle hit the market.

‘Announce Cybertruck deliveries will hit the road by the end of 2023,’ shared Ives.

‘Timing is key here with competition from all angles and worries production woes will push this into 2024. 

‘Giga Austin is up and running and is now key to hitting this next growth endeavor for Tesla.’

The Wedbush analyst also urges Musk to set conservative 2023 deliveries for all Tesla vehicles.

The other points include adding new directors to the board, but those with some more experience around tech and EV leadership, and announce a major stock buyback program.

Musk also needs to provide more financial metrics and transparency around the margin structure at Tesla, according to Ives.

‘We believe this is a hidden gem at the company with more production/sales in China and Giga Berlin and Austin ramping,’ he shared.

And the last two points focus on Musk’s behavior on Twitter, which echoes Ives’s email in November.

Among Musk’s Twitter fiasco, Tesla’s missed deadlines have also impacted the company’s reputation. Musk has long-promised deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck since it was first unveiled in 2019, and the world has yet to see the vehicle hit the market

‘The more political on Twitter Musk becomes is a bad thing for selling EV cars to the masses. It’s that simple, and this remains a key investor concern,’ shared Ives.

Lay out the strategic plan for Twitter. 

‘Right now, very simply, the fear is Twitter is bleeding money with advertisers fleeing (for now), which means more losses and, therefore, more Musk TSLA stock sales. Once a new CEO is in place, lay out the 3- year strategy of Twitter and what this can become, Super App, ‘X,’ WeChat 2.0, etc.’

Despite his criticism, Ives has not given up all hope in the company and Musk.

‘He is a modern-day Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison going through what appears to be a Howard Hughes moment,’ Ives told DailyMail.com.

‘He will navigate Tesla through the storm we believe.’

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