Have Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares bottomed out? That’s what investors will be asking today after a pair of rough trading days for the stock. At the beginning of this week, the company looked poised to hit $200 per share, but its stock took a nosedive after a downgrade from Baird and news of a fiery Model S wreck.
Elon Musk’s wealth shrinks because of Tesla
By the end of the trading day Thursday, shares of Tesla had recovered ever so slightly to end the day with a 4 percent decline. This morning in premarket trading, they rose more than 1 percent before retreating slightly.
Because of the rapidly falling value of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), CEO Elon Musk is also a little less wealthy today. His wealth shed almost $600 million, according to Angelo Young of International Business Times. The company’s market capitalization is now a little over $21 billion. It’s anyone’s guess whether shares of Tesla have truly bottomed out already or if the automaker’s share price decline will continue today.
Tesla experiences a PR nightmare
Of course the naysayers were quick to note that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s bullish run couldn’t continue forever. But the fact remains that this week’s accident involving the Model S was a nightmare for the company’s public relations department.
Forbes staff writer Hannah Elliott suggests that the company should do more to protect its reputation. She believes Musk and the company’s engineers should be doing more to explain exactly what happened in the accident. She spoke with the company’s director of global communications, who had few answers and seemed unaware of the negative report sent out by Baird just before the accident was reported.
Of course this isn’t the first time an automaker has gotten in trouble for a wreck like this, and it’s worth noting that the $200 per share mark likely was a sort of emotional barrier for investors. Shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) may not have topped $200 a share just yet, no matter what happened.
