Tesla’s stocks has been going down and it’s clear why. Elon Musk is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla Motors and Space Exploration (SpaceX) Technologies. Recently, his antics has been questionable which has led stockholders to lose trust in him. Musk appeared on Joe Rogan‘s popular podcast on Thursday night sipping whiskey, smoking marijuana and talking about electric airplanes. Musk was in California on Thursday, where smoking recreational marijuana is legal. After the podcast, Tesla’s stock went down close to 1% in pre-market trade.

Another reason why Tesla’s stocks has been going down is that the company is not meeting production targets. Tesla’s fatal car crash and the Model 3‘s slow rate of production is what’s behind Tesla‘s dropping stock, said Colin Langan, a U.S. auto analyst at UBS. On Tuesday, news reports emerged about the company missing its production target of manufacturing 6,000 Tesla Model 3 cars each week for the month of August. This has raised some eyebrows from investors because the company needs to reach the production goals in order to maintain profitability. “Not only do you need to ramp this product, but you are going to have to make sure the quality improves as you ramp it,” Langan said.

Also, another reason that could have led to tesla’s struggle in the market is that important executives are leaving the company. Tesla’s Chief of Accounting Dave Morton resigned from the company after only one month on the job. The reason for his resignation was that Elon Musk was not “interested in accounting details around a potential take-private transaction, according to people familiar with the matter.” (CNBC). When Morton brought out ideas and challenges in making the company private, he was met with Elon Musk and other executives being disinterested in the financial ideas. Morton felt like Elon Musk was somewhat ignoring him and believed he was not a right fit at the Tesla company. Losing the chiefs finance of any company can mean that Tesla’s stock might plunge even further. Tesla should quickly try to find a replacement in order to alleviate the damage.

Lastly, Tesla is not the only company that sells electric cars. Ford, BMW, Kia, and Nissan (to name a few) also sell electric cars. Mercedes Benz also just released their new all electric car, which might hinder Tesla’s profit. As more car companies are beginning to switch from oil to electricity because of resource depletion, Tesla’s competition will only increase as time goes by. This means that Tesla would have to try and stand out above the rest so that consumers will buy their products. Hopefully, Tesla will bounce back with their new model 3 car since it is relatively cheap and performs well.

<David Ha/ Brea Olinda 12th>