Elon Musk.
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- Tesla stock is on track for its worst year on record as 2022 trading closes.
- The stock has fallen about 65% since the beginning of the year.
- CEO Elon Musk faces pressure from investors over Twitter interest.
Tesla shares rose on Friday, the final trading day of 2022, capping the worst year in the company’s history.
Stocks are down about 65% year-to-date, equating to a loss of more than $700 billion in market cap.
Investors are sounding alarm bells about slowing demand and car production, sluggish market share in China, Fed rate hikes and CEO Elon Musk’s hijacking of Twitter.
The plunge in Tesla’s stock has far outpaced the declines of major indices, including the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which are down 19% and 33%, respectively, over the year.
But Musk, whose personal net worth has also fallen along with Tesla stock, has tried to shrug off the carnage.
“Don’t worry too much stock market Insanity. If we continue to show good performance, the market will recognize it,” he said in a message to Tesla employees earlier this week.
After hitting an all-time high in November 2021, shares turned downward. But most of the share price decline has come since Musk completed his Twitter acquisition in October, when he also served as CEO.
Big changes also happened at Tesla that month, knocking back hopes that the company would increase production by 50%.
Investors and analysts have since expressed concern that Twitter has sapped Musk’s interest in Tesla and that his political tweets are hurting the EV maker’s brand.
