Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has told employees that they should not be “bothered by stock market craziness”.
Tesla’s shares fell nearly 70 percent this year on jitters over softening demand for electric vehicles and Musk’s distraction with running Twitter.
In an email sent to staff on Wednesday and reviewed by Reuters news agency, Musk said he believes that long term, Tesla will be the most valuable company on earth.
“Btw, don’t be too bothered by stock market craziness. As we demonstrate continued excellent performance, the market will recognise that,” Musk said.
“Long-term, I believe very much that Tesla will be the most valuable company on Earth!”
He also urged employees to ramp up deliveries at the end of this quarter, after the automaker offered discounts on its vehicles in the United States and China.
“Please go all out for the next few days and volunteer to help deliver if at all possible. It will make a real difference!” he said in the email.
Tesla is set to round off 2022 with a 68 percent drop – the most among the big US technology firms – as fears mount over slowing demand in China and top boss Elon Musk’s growing distractions with Twitter.
About 2.85 percent of Tesla shares, or $8.36 billion, are shorted, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners, adding that short selling was up by more than 8.98 million shares this year due to a drop in the stock price, which was partly driven by Musk’s share sales to fund his Twitter purchase.
Analysts expect Tesla to deliver 442,452 vehicles in the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv data.
