What Happened?

Shares of electric vehicle pioneer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 10.4% in the afternoon session after markets tumbled, extending the weakness from the previous week as concerns over the ongoing trade war continued to spread. Over the weekend, President Trump fielded questions regarding recession worries on FOX News, calling the market struggle "a period of transition," but that didn't do much to calm investors. The sell-off was particularly pronounced in the tech sector, with the Nasdaq falling 3% into correction territory, while the S&P 500 also posted a 2% decline. 

Separately, UBS analysts reiterated their Sell rating, adding, "We are lowering our 1Q25 delivery forecast to 367k from the 437k we plugged in as a placeholder post 4Q24 results."

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What The Market Is Telling Us

Tesla’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 117 moves greater than 2.5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Tesla and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business. 

The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock dropped 7.7% as data revealed the company had a rough February (2025) in China, with sales falling by almost half. According to the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla sold roughly 30,000 vehicles. That's a steep drop, raising questions about demand, competition, and how Tesla is navigating China's ever-evolving EV market.

Tesla is down 39.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $228.93 per share, it is trading 52.3% below its 52-week high of $479.86 from December 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Tesla’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,321.

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