Tesla investors are riding out a tough year and month. Both are the worst on record.
Shares of the electric vehicle maker, once the darling of the sector, are down 64% for the year compared to the S&P 500’s 19% decline.
Tesla’s main troubles are two-fold, writes analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush.
“Musk is viewed as “asleep at the wheel” from a leadership perspective for Tesla at the time investors need a CEO to navigate this Category 5 storm,” which includes macro headwinds in both the U.S. and China and rising electric vehicle competition.
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Still, Ives says Musk can right the ship with ten easy steps.
“Name a CEO of Twitter by the end of January” Ives advised, adding “Musk is the heart and lungs of Tesla and vice versa.”
Musk’s very public $44 billion takeover of Twitter, which almost didn’t happen, has been driven by his zest to make the social media platform truly a free speech community.
Along the way, he’s exposing the bad policies previously practiced at Twitter in what has become almost daily drops, including those from journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss. They have been releasing the “Twitter Files,” detailing inside secrets with access Musk has provided the duo.
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Ives also warned about Tesla equity.
“Stop selling stock, and no more boy that cried wolf or Pinocchio situation,” he said. “Formally adopt a 10b5-1 plan so investors know there is no major selling block around the corner.”
Musk sold $40 billion of Tesla stock last year, spooking investors. Ives says a “major stock buyback” would go a long way to improve the “street’s confidence.”
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Ron Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management, who shares some of Ives’ opinions, recently participated in a Q&A with Tesla shareholders that Musk joined after the two had a minor online spat earlier this month.
Gerber walked away from the conversation confident on three points, he said: Musk will find a new Twitter CEO, he’ll stop the stock sales and he’s confident in Tesla’s future. Still, Gerber said he won’t rule out running for a seat on Tesla’s board.
Outside of Musk’s control is the global economic slowdown. Given that Ives believes Tesla’s goals are too ambitious, he’d like to see a more dialed-down outlook.
“Lay out conservative 2023 delivery and targets given the darker macro. The 50% growth target is not happening in our opinion, with 35%+ delivery growth a more hittable and realistic goal for 2023.”
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Tesla did not respond to inquiries from FOX Business before publication.