Tesla shares continued to fall on Friday as investors began to take profits from the rapid growth of the company’s securities, which began after the US presidential election. The effect of a major political event has apparently exhausted itself.
Image source: tesla.com
As of 6:30 a.m. East Coast time (2:30 p.m. Moscow time), Tesla shares were down nearly 5% in premarket trading in the United States, a trend that has been observed since the beginning of the week. Last Wednesday, December 18, Tesla shares plunged 8%, the worst day for the company since Donald Trump won the presidential election in November.
Trump’s victory triggered a sharp rise in Tesla shares – investors were optimistic about the company due to the close connection of its CEO with the new head of state. Since the market closed on November 5 – the night of the US presidential election – shares of the electric vehicle maker are still up 65%. Trump appointed Tesla CEO Elon Musk as one of the heads of the Department of Government Efficiency – the department’s English acronym DOGE is similar to the name of the businessman’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. Musk invested $277 million in Trump’s election campaign; the businessman’s fortune is estimated at more than $439 billion.
In November, it became known that the administration of the new US President plans to create a federal agency to regulate unmanned vehicles, which will also play into the hands of Musk and his company. Tesla is betting big on autopilot technology and intends to launch a commercial robotaxi service – in October, the automaker presented the Cybercab electric car designed for this purpose. However, the company itself has not yet released autopilot technology, and even the paid Full Self-Driving option still requires the presence of a person behind the wheel.