Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), through its robotaxis, is striving to pivot to autonomous ride-hailing service, positioning itself in direct competition with Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER). As the two are likely facing off in the near future, here’s a look at how their shares have fared since the start of 2022.
Tesla’s Tumultuous Journey: After showing surprising resilience during the pandemic years, Tesla’s fortunes took a turn for the worse at the start of 2022. Inflation, which began to rear its ugly head amid the COVID-19 stimulus measures during pandemic years, peaked in the summer of 2022. Rising inflation arm-twisted the U.S. Federal Reserve into announcing rate hikes.
The successive and aggressive rate hikes announced since March 2022 negatively impacted consumer sentiment and spending on discretionary items such as autos.
Demand for Tesla’s electric vehicles began to head southward amid the inclement economic environment. To make matters worse, the Elon Musk-led company’s strategy to reinvigorate sagging demand backfired. Given its scale of operation, Tesla thought it wouldn’t hurt to undercut prices with an eye on expanding market share. The competition followed suit, negating any impact from the Tesla price hikes.
The price reductions hurt Tesla’s core auto margins significantly. It was then, that Tesla bulls began to hope for a volume boost from the Cybertruck launch, particularly through the “halo effect.” After a protracted delay, the EV pickup truck was finally made available to customers in late 2023. But the expected benefit did not kick in.
The lean patch continued for much of 2023, culminating in the company missing both earnings and revenue expectations for three straight quarters.
The fundamental woes ...