Tesla stock droops amid Musk’s turmoil

Tesla’s stock wobbled Monday as its embattled CEO, Elon Musk, doubled down on his leadership of his multibillion-dollar empire — and has slipped 18.7 percent since his Aug. 7 tweet in which he floated the idea that he would push to take Tesla private.

The electric car company’s stock was up nearly 1 percent in trading Monday after spending most of the day in the red. The tweet triggered questions from federal investigators, shareholders and board members as well as greater scrutiny of Tesla’s ongoing production issues, rising debt and Musk’s own erratic behavior and leadership style.

As Musk has garnered a swirl of negative headlines, Tesla’s stock price has bounced around but has lost ground over the past year. The price per share was about $338 this time a year ago and closed at $308 on Monday.

On Monday, JPMorgan said it expected Tesla shares to continue to fall for the rest of 2018 after Musk’s announcement about taking Tesla private. In a note, its analyst said an “interpretation of subsequent events” after Musk’s Aug. 7 tweet “leads us to believe that funding was not secured ... nor was there any formal proposal.” JPMorgan is scaling its December price target for company shares back to $195 from $308.

“Tesla does appear to be exploring a going private transaction, but we now believe that such a process appears much less developed than we had earlier presumed (more along the lines of high-level intention),” the note said.”

Still, the stock price is high enough that shareholders won’t lose faith in Tesla, said David Whiston, an equity analyst at Morningstar. Tesla will probably have to resolve whether it has secured the funding to go private before the stock can steadily climb back up, Whiston said. And despite his antics, Musk is not scaring off investors.

“As long as you have Elon, you have a lot of slack,” Whiston said. “You have a lot of leeway with the capital markets because you either believe in him or you don’t, and right now, a lot of people believe in him.”

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

The downward slope since the Aug. 7 “funding secured” tweet echoed other instances in which Tesla’s stock has taken a hit after surprise moves from Musk.

But Musk has proven skilled at using social media to divert attention from Tesla’s other ongoing challenges and keep people focused on the company’s aspirations. One former Tesla employee — now a co-founder of the automotive-tech firm Peloton Technology — told The Washington Post that Musk was “not unlike the president of the United States” in his use of the media.

Last week, Musk gave insight into the extremes of his work and personal life, detailing to the New York Times their tolls on his health and relationships. He said he had been working up to 120 hours per week and had not taken more than a week off in 17 years.