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As electric car sales slump, Tesla shares relinquish a year’s worth of gains
Tesla shares on Thursday dipped below $150 a piece, relinquishing a year’s worth of gains as the automaker struggles with decelerating electric vehicle sales and mounting competition.
Continuing a dismal year for Tesla investors, the stock on Thursday fell $5.52, or 3.5%, to close at $149.93, leaving shares down more than 39% this year. The stock last traded at the $150 level in January 2023.
Tesla sales plummeted last quarter as competition increased and EV sales slow. The company said it delivered roughly 387,000 vehicles from January through March, undershooting analyst forecasts and nearly 9% below the 423,000 it sold in the year-ago period.
With Tesla hitting a soft patch, news surfaced this week that the company plans to cut at least 10% of its global workforce in a bid to cut costs. “There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a memo to staff. “This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.”
Tesla on April 23 is expected to report a drop in first-quarter earnings, and Wall Street will be looking for answers on the company’s conference call. Tesla is also under pressure to deliver on its previous pledge to roll out a more affordable EV, dubbed the Model 2, amid reports the project is delayed.
“We need to hear the rational for the cost-cutting, the strategy going forward, product roadmap and an overall vision from Musk, otherwise many investors might head for the elevators during this category 5 perfect storm of weak demand that Tesla is seeing globally in 2024,” Wedbush Securities analysts said in a report.
Electric vehicle sales rose only 2.7% to just over 268,000 in the first quarter, down from the 47% jump that fueled record sales in 2023, according to CBS News Detroit.
For Musk, the timing of the planned layoffs of thousands of workers is awkward. Tesla also filed this week to have shareholders vote again on a controversial $56 billion compensation package awarded to Musk for 2018. A Delaware judge voided the pay arrangement in January after lawyers for shareholders argued that Musk had set the terms in sham negotiations with directors beholden to him.
In a proxy filing on Wednesday, Tesla also stated it would hold a vote on moving its state of incorporation to Texas from Delaware. Tesla is set to hold its annual shareholders meeting on June 13.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.