Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Inc (Tesla stock), stated in a tweet on Friday that he believes a recession will continue until the spring of 2024. This comes after he stated earlier in the week that “a recession of sorts” in China and Europe was weighing on demand for Tesla’s electric cars.
After being asked by a user on Twitter how long the recession would endure, Musk responded by saying, “Just guessing, but probably until spring of ’24.” This was in response to the question. It was unclear whether Musk was referring to a worldwide recession or building on the statement he made on Wednesday concerning China and Europe.
Tesla Stock Analysis
Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 6.6% to close at $207.28 on Thursday, a day after Musk told analysts on a conference call that the weakness in China and Europe was causing demand to be “a little harder than it otherwise would be.” The statement was made after Musk said that demand would be “a little harder” if not for the strength in China and Europe.
At least six different brokerages reduced their price goals for the company, with Tesla booster Wedbush Securities making the largest decrease, bringing its price objective down from $360 to $300. On Wednesday, Tesla reported revenue for its third quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Despite Musk’s assurances to analysts that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has “great demand” for the current quarter, the electric vehicle manufacturer recently announced that it will fall short of its yearly delivery target owing to a lack of available transportation capacity.
In the most recent quarter, Tesla reported that it had delivered a record number of 343,830 electric vehicles. But not only did it fall short of analysts’ expectations of 359,162, it also fell short of Tesla’s output of 365,923. This is an extremely rare occurrence for the manufacturer, since deliveries have been greater or comparable to production in several of the most recent quarters.
During a conference call in July, Musk contradicted himself when asked about demand. At first, he stated that macroeconomic uncertainty might have some impact on demand for the company’s electric vehicles. However, when an analyst pressed him for details, Musk stated that the company did not have a demand problem but rather a production problem.
According to an email sent in June and obtained by Reuters, Musk stated that he had a “very awful feeling” about the state of the economy and that Tesla needs to reduce approximately 10% of its personnel. In a later statement, he clarified that the wage cut would only affect paid employees.
The value of a share of Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) has dropped by more than a third since the beginning of this year. On Thursday, they reached a low point not seen in the previous 16 months, falling as much as 9%.
JP Morgan stated in a study that the findings “would likely add to arguments over demand destruction that erupted after 3Q deliveries tracked -5% below company-compiled expectations.”
On Wednesday, Tesla said that its automotive gross margin did not meet projections. The company cited additional expenditures associated with scaling up production at its new factories in Berlin and Austin as the primary cause of the shortfall.
“The bullish narrative is clearly hitting a rough patch as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) must now prove again to the Street that the robust growth story is running into a myriad of logistics issues rather than demand softening,” said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. “Tesla must now prove again to the Street that the robust growth story is running into a myriad of logistics issues as opposed to demand softening.”
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Author Valerie Remorosa 
