March 2 (Reuters) – Shares of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) fell about 7% on Thursday, after Chief Executive Elon Musk and the team’s four-hour presentation failed to impress investors looking for an announcement about an affordable electric car and a plan with a concrete timeline.
Musk and more than a dozen executives presented new plans to cut assembly costs in half, invest in a new factory in Mexico and discussed the company’s innovation in managing its operations at its investor day on Wednesday.
However, the event, where Musk unveiled the EV maker’s “Master Plan 3,” had few details about the timeline or new Tesla products.
“The markets were ready for a big announcement, maybe about something like a more affordable new model,” said Russ Mould, director of investment at AJ Bell.
“Tesla was in tears so far in 2023. Then Musk pops his head above the parapet during an Investor Day presentation and the stock sputters… It may just have been a case of not living up to the hype.”
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The stock, which had lost about two-thirds of its value by 2022, is up more than 60% so far this year.
“Musk and company failed to put the icing on the cake — a real look at a lower-cost Tesla, if only conceptually,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.
Tesla’s events have caused quite a stir on the internet in the past, with Musk’s dance moves at the opening of the company’s Berlin factory in 2022 and an event in China in 2020 going viral on social media.
The company’s plan to use 75% fewer silicon carbide vehicles without compromising car performance or efficiency also weighed on the semiconductor maker and the shares of suppliers STMicroelectronics (STM.PA) and Wolfspeed Inc ( WOLF.N).
The reduction plan was “bad news for the entire silicon carbide production chain and in particular for STMicro,” Brokerage Equita said.
US-listed shares of STMicreelectronics fell about 6%, while Wolfspeed’s shares fell 12% in early trading.
Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Carlo Giovanni Boffa in Gdansk; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
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