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Tesla (TSLA+3.07%) stock’s 4% rally today didn’t prevent Elon Musk’s electric vehicle-maker from logging its worst month ever, as the post-election rally disappears and the automakers’s market value holds below $1 trillion.
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The shares fell 28% in February, as weakening U.S. consumer spending and uncertainty about tariffs and policy changes make equity investors increasingly anxious. The stock’s worst ever month was December 2022, when it declined 37%.
“The real difficulty with any stock that is as richly valued as Tesla is to be able to call a floor,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Bloomberg. “Since Tesla has defied conventional valuations for so long, a bottom is more about investor sentiment than the normal metrics that value investors might use.”
This week’s decline of 13%, was driven in part by a report on Tuesday from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association that showed Tesla’s sales in the EU fell 45% in January, even as the EV market surged. The company’s earnings last month were also disappointing.
Musk’s political activities — including as effective head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — may be alienating potential car buyers, according to analysts. Musk also recently endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany party and participated in an online campaign to convince U.K. officials to release far-right agitator Tommy Robinson.
There is some kind floor under the stock, even if it’s hard to know where it is, said Explosive Options founder Bob Lang.
“He’s got a devoted following because he’s made people a lot of money,” Lang told Quartz. “They’ll follow him until the day they die.” That loyalty means that they’ll continue to hold the stock.
—William Gavin contributed to this article.