Tesla
stock might break its three-day winning streak.
After rising earlier in Thursday’s session on good news from Ford, the U.S. economy, and even President Joe Biden, the shares have reversed downward.
The electric vehicle maker’s shares were down 0.8% in late-day trading at $200.48, while the
S&P 500
rose 0.4% and the
Nasdaq Composite
ticked up 0.7%.
The market has been boosted by the latest economic data. Core personal-consumption expenditures, or PCE, which is a favored inflation metric of the Federal Reserve, increased 0.4% in January from December. That might be faster than the Fed likes, but it was in line with economists’ expectations. No surprises are good news for the market.
The U.S. auto market got a boost from Biden who instructed the Commerce Department to look into security threats posed by Chinese electric vehicles.
“China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices. China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security. I’m not going to let that happen on my watch,” said Biden in a statement. “Most cars these days are connected….connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China.”
Biden’s statement and initiatives represent another barrier for Chinese auto makers looking to eventually sell EVs in the U.S. No Chinese EVs were sold in the U.S. in 2023. None are on sale currently.
Ford Motor
and
General Motors
shares weren’t moving much, relative to the market, up about 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively.
As for
Tesla
specifically, Ford announced Thursday that Ford EV owners can now charge at all Tesla supercharging stations in the U.S. and Canada.
But that is no surprise to investors. Ford and Tesla had previously announced this would happen back in May 2023; the update now is the systems are ready. Ford owners can find, activate, and pay for charging in their Ford Pass app. Ford is also offering its drivers a free adapter if they ask for one before the end of June.
For Ford owners, it means more chargers. For Tesla, it means more sales. But that apparently wasn’t enough for Tesla stock to stay in the green.
The Ford news comes after Wednesday’s Roadster excitement—Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed details about the timing of the launch of the long-delayed sports car.
Tesla stock is well off its 52-week high of $299.29, set last summer.
Trading volume was 99.81 million at Wednesday’s close and remained 10.5 million below its 65-day average volume of 110.3 million.
Tesla stock has experienced two leap-day trading sessions over its history. The stock dropped in 2012 and rose in 2016. In 2020, Leap Day happened over a weekend.
The odds of Tesla stock rising or falling on any one day is a coin flip. Over its history, Tesla stock has risen about 52% of the time.
Write to Rupert Steiner at rupert.steiner@barrons.com
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