Investing.com -- Tesla stock plunged 15% on Monday, marking their worst single-day decline since September 2020 as the stock’s ongoing sell-off accelerated. The electric vehicle (EV) maker has now logged seven consecutive weeks of losses, its longest losing streak since going public in 2010.
Since hitting a peak of $479.86 on December 17, Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) market value has been cut in half, shedding over $800 billion.
Monday’s drop ranks as the company’s seventh-largest daily decline on record. Tesla stock also weighed on broader U.S. markets, with the Nasdaq falling nearly 4%—its steepest one-day loss since 2022.
Tesla shares slightly recovered a day later, rising 3.8% to close at $230.58.
The recent slide in Tesla stock comes amid uncertainty over trade policies under President Donald Trump. Concerns about tariffs, particularly those impacting key automotive markets like Canada and Mexico, have raised fears of higher production costs and supply chain disruptions.
Tesla is also facing reputational challenges tied to CEO Elon Musk’s close involvement with the Trump administration, where he is leading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
His political stance has led to backlash, with former supporters staging protests at Tesla locations and reports of vandalism and arson attempts targeting company facilities.
In Loveland, Colorado, authorities confirmed multiple incidents of arson and vandalism at a Tesla store and service center, including the most recent attack on March 7.
Analysts expect a tough first quarter for Tesla
Taking into account the latest delivery data for January and February, and concerns around Tesla brand, Wall Street analysts expect a challenging quarter for the EV giant.
Tesla’s sales of its China-made electric vehicles dropped 49.2% in February from a year earlier to 30,688 cars, the lowest since August 2022, as the U.S. automaker faces pressure from Chinese rivals in a relentless smart EV price war.
Wolfe Research: “Based on the latest delivery data, Q1 is shaping up to be a very difficult quarter, with Auto GMs & EPS tracking well below consensus. That said, we do see a potential change in the narrative coming post-Q1, potential shifting investor focus back to Autonomy / AI.”
Guggenheim: “Headlines likely get worse before they get better, with a negative Q1 delivery print, Q1 gross margin downside, new model launches that are less accretive to the TAM vs. bullish expectations, and a June Robotaxi launch that could be underwhelming in terms of scope. With that context, TSLA stock has been momentum up, and momentum down... and we expect the near-term trend to remain negative. While we appreciate excitement around robotaxis, we believe the stock is reaching a breaking point, where numbers start to matter.”
Barclays (LON:BARC): “Based on reported Jan/Feb data and early March reads, we estimate Q1 deliveries of ~350k units, well below consensus of ~418k, and below our published estimate post Q4 EPS back in January. We believe that buyside expectations are more in this range given soft data points thus far in the quarter. Our ~350k Q1 estimate implies volume down ~30% sequentially and ~10% y/y.”
“Q1 is seasonally Tesla’s weakest quarter, but Q125 is additionally impacted by the global Model Y refresh ("Juniper"), which negatively impacted Jan/Feb in particular. Thus while our Q1 volume estimate is soft, we believe the March delivery run-rate may be viewed as a more accurate starting point for full-year estimates.”