Tesla shares have plunged more than 70 percent year-to-date and 42 percent so far December, and the stock is on track to close out its worst month, quarter and year on record.
Despite that, CEO Elon Musk told employees – whose compensation is partly made up of stock options – not to be "too bothered by stock market craziness."
The billionaire entrepreneur made the comments on December 28 in a companywide email obtained by Electrek. In the email, he told Tesla staff that "as we demonstrate continued excellent performance, the market will recognize that." He also expressed his strong belief that long-term, "Tesla will be the most valuable company on Earth."
Musk also thanked Tesla employees for their work in 2022, encouraged them to push hard for a strong fourth-quarter finish, and asked them to "volunteer to help deliver" cars to customers before midnight on December 31, if at all possible.
The latter is standard practice at Tesla during the last days of most quarters, when the company enlists employees from all departments to hand over new cars to customers in order to meet or exceed delivery goals.
Gallery: Tesla Giga Texas (Tesla Gigafactory 5)
Under normal circumstances, this type of work is limited to people on the sales and delivery teams. Tesla has been targeting 50 percent year-over-year growth in vehicle deliveries, but has told investors it may not meet that target every year.
Meeting the Q4 2022 delivery goal may have a positive effect on Tesla's share price, but it will hardly be enough to undo the damage done to the stock so far this year.
While Musk has blamed Tesla's plunging share price in part on rising interest rates, critics point to his Twitter takeover as a bigger cause for the slide. The CEO's attention has been focused on the social media platform for the better part of the year.
Furthermore, to finance the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk sold tens of billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares in 2022. That obviously had a major contribution to Tesla's declining share price.
Here's the full email Musk sent to Tesla employees on December 28:
From: Elon Musk
To: Everybody
Subj. Final Few Days
Date: Dec. 28, 2022 [Time Stamp removed]
Just a quick note to thank you for your hard work and congratulate you on exceptional execution in 2022!
Since we have a lot of cars arriving at the last minute, it is important to rally hard and do everything we can to get our cars to customers who have ordered them before midnight on Dec. 31. Also, every incremental car we produce that can be delivered in time also matters.
Please go all out for the next few days and volunteer to help deliver if at all possible. It will make a real difference!
Thanks,
Elon
Btw, don’t be too bothered by stock market craziness. As we demonstrate continued excellent performance, the market will recognize that. Long-term, I believe very much that Tesla will be the most valuable company on Earth!
