Tesla lost as much as US$50 billion of its market capitalization after-hours on Tuesday, and continued to see its share price plunge on Wednesday after the EV manufacturer’s Battery Day event earlier in the day offered few details about the price of battery packs and not a single ground-breaking announcement.
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares slumped by 5.6 percent in trading on Tuesday and shed another 6.9 percent in after-hours trade after what some analysts described as an “underwhelming” Battery Day event, especially compared to the hype it had generated among fans, followers, Tesla owners, analysts, and investors.
On Wednesday morning, Tesla was also down, by more than 8 percent, with a market cap of US$361 billion, although Elon Musk promised an affordable US$25,000 Tesla slightly better than a comparable gasoline car, in three years or more, and a drastic cut in battery costs.
Before the event, Musk warned on Twitter that “This affects long-term production, especially Semi, Cybertruck & Roadster, but what we announce will not reach serious high-volume production until 2022.”
“We intend to increase, not reduce battery cell purchases from Panasonic, LG & CATL (possibly other partners too). However, even with our cell suppliers going at maximum speed, we still foresee significant shortages in 2022 & beyond unless we also take action ourselves,” he added.
Tesla also announced a new S version, Plaid, with a 520-mile range and a starting price of US$139,990.
Commenting on the Battery Day, Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners, told Reuters: “Nothing Musk discussed about batteries is a done deal…There was nothing tangible.”
Analysts and investors were hoping for tangible announcements about the million-mile battery or at least $/kWh battery cost analyses and targets to make EVs cost-competitive with ICE vehicles.
“Panasonic and other suppliers were hit with Tesla planning to make its own battery. Nevertheless, given all the anticipation around a potential game-changer in battery technology, investors were a little underwhelmed by the news,” Neil Wilson, senior markets analysts at Markets.com said, as quoted by Proactive Investors.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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