Tesla tumbles the most since 2020 on pullback in sales estimates
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Tesla executives have said the company will return to growth in 2025.
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NEW YORK – Tesla shares plunged to their worst day in more than four years, extending a slide in 2025 amid growing concerns on Wall Street about demand for the company’s electric cars.
Its stock tumbled 15 per cent on March 10 after UBS Group analyst Joseph Spak cut delivery projections both for the first quarter and the full year.
Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Ben Kallo similarly lowered his estimates for Tesla deliveries on March 6.
Mr Spak sees Tesla handing over only 367,000 vehicles in this quarter, a 16 per cent reduction from his prior estimate.
He is also no longer expecting the company to sell more vehicles in 2025 than in 2024, projecting a roughly 5 per cent annual drop.
On average, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are expecting a roughly 10 per cent increase for the year, and Tesla executives have said the company will return to growth in 2025.
“While we do expect the Model Y refresh to help, we believe orders are somewhat muted,” Mr Spak wrote in a report to clients.
He cited Tesla’s website in China showing that customers need to wait only two to four weeks for delivery of the new sport utility vehicle.
In addition to disruptions related to changing over its most important model to a new design, blowback against chief executive Elon Musk
In Germany, for instance, registrations plummeted 70 per cent during the first two months of 2025, as Mr Musk weighed in on the country’s closely contested federal election.
In China – the world’s biggest EV market – Tesla is among the manufacturers struggling to keep up with domestic champion BYD.
Vehicle shipments from the Musk-led company’s plant in Shanghai plunged 49 per cent in February to just 30,688 vehicles, the lowest monthly figure since July 2022.
The March 10 drop in Tesla shares was the biggest single-day decline since September 2020.
The stock is down 45 per cent in 2025 and has lost all of its gains since Mr Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November. BLOOMBERG
