It was a week Billionaire Elon Musk occupied news headlines for a variety of reasons, and a week Tesla share price dropped by nearly 16% on NASDAQ.
His SpaceX company launched four people to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday, notching up its fifth operation crew launch for NASA.
Earlier on the same Wednesday, Musk in a letter to the Twitter revived his proposal to buy the social media giant for his original offer of $54.20 per share, the price he offered months ago before trying to quit the deal.
- Also read;
- My top priorities on getting into office – Peter Obi
- Nnamdi Kanu’s case adjourned to December for final hearing – Lawyer
On Friday, Elon Musk was on the news over the expected commencement of deliveries of Telsa’s Semi Truck on Dec. 1, with the first truck going to PepsiCo.
Earlier in the week however, he was on the international political and diplomatic scene, suggesting a route to end the war in Ukraine. He suggested that a new UN-supervised votes be held in the Ukrainian regions that has joined Russia, and that Ukraine cede Crimea to Russia, while it (Ukraine) remain “neutral” rather than aligning with either NATO or Russia.
As the storm from his suggestions on Ukraine cooled, Musk went on to provide a suggestion on how the tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved. Speaking to Financial Times, the world’s richest person suggested that some control of Taiwan be handed over to China.
“My recommendation . . . would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy,” Elon Musk said.
In a typical Elon Musk fashion, he tweeted to called it a “Very intense 7 days indeed.”
Very intense 7 days indeed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2022
What happened with the Twitter share price in the week?
Tesla shares closed at $265.25 on Friday, Sept. 30. At market’s close one week later, Tesla shares were trading at $223.07, a decline of nearly 16%. It was the worst week for the stock since Mar. 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic began to grip the U.S., shutting down businesses and public life.
Over the weekend, Tesla Inc. had reported electric vehicle production and delivery numbers that CNBC reported did not meet analysts’ expectations.
According to estimates compiled by FactSet-owned Street Account, analysts had been expecting Tesla to report deliveries of 364,660 cars for the period ending September 30, 2022.
But Tesla reported deliveries of 343,000 total, and production of 365,000 electric cars — despite having started production at two new factories in Brandenburg, Germany, and Austin, Texas.
There is a concern that Tesla may be experiencing an erosion of demand in China, where it is facing the steepest competition from BYD, the Warren Buffet-backed lithium ion battery and electric vehicle maker.
Investors have been looking forward to Tesla diversifying its product offering with both the battery electric Semi truck and the Cybertruck. That electric pickup truck is scheduled to begin shipping next year.
Yet, Musk’s Friday announcement of the delivery of trucks to PepsiCo wasn’t enough to stop Tesla shares from losing 5.9% on Friday. This was due to Friday’s jobs report which showed that more jobs were added in September than expected, along with a lower unemployment rate.
Investors are therefore expecting continued interest rates increase by the Federal Reserve. It caused investors to shed higher-risk growth stocks, including Tesla.
In addition, the Twitter deal that is back on the radar has investors wondering whether Elon Musk will have to sell any more Tesla shares to fund that deal.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
