TSLA: Tesla Stock Gives Back 52% to Trade at Levels Last Seen in September

All post-election gains are now in the rearview while hedge fund short sellers are making bank on betting against the EV maker.

💸 Tesla Wipes Out 52% from Record

• Tesla stock TSLA tumbled 5.3% on Tuesday, bringing its March losses to a staggering 23%. The American brand closed the Monday session lower by 4.8% as the stock was coming off an eight-week losing streak, its longest on record. The fresh drop has erased 52% in just two months and the shares are now back where they were in September (i.e. the Trump pump is gone).
• What’s driving Tesla to the ground? Rival companies are making fast, super-fast progress, toward better products and services for the EV sector. BYD 1211, the Chinese EV giant, unveiled a 5-minute charger on Monday, beating Tesla by a wide margin.

💡 Zeekr Rolls Out Free Self Driving

• On Tuesday, another rival from the East, Zeekr ZK, said it’s pushing out an advanced driver-assistance technology for free. The system is an alternative to Tesla’s Full Self Driving and will first be released to local customers in China. By April, Zeekr plans to open it up to the public, if the tests are successful.
• “Right now, in this period of development, I think subscriptions aren’t that meaningful,” Zeekr CEO Andy An said in an interview Friday. Zeekr was founded in 2021 by Volvo-owner Geely and went public in May 2024.

🧸 Bearish Hedge Funds Turn a Profit

• Back to Tesla, the Elon Musk-led company has been solely responsible for enriching the bears out there. Hedge funds who hold short positions are sitting on more than $16 billion in profits. Musk, on the other end, has lost a whopping $180 billion from the time Tesla shares hit a record (mid-December).
• Musk’s political disruptions as Donald Trump’s right-hand man, analysts say, are proving to be detrimental to his car company’s brand. His aggressive far-right stance on internal and foreign policy issues have raised concerns over his ability to manage the Tesla business.