Operation to raise the stock price?… Musk “Tesla to become America’s largest company”

Electric car maker Tesla is falling freely, despite Elon Musk’s rant that it will surpass Apple and become the largest US company. The gap with Apple, the number one US market capitalization company, has widened.

Musk said on Twitter on the 26th (local time) that “I think Tesla is more than 0% likely to become the largest company (> 0%).

Contrary to Musk’s confidence, the market cap gap between Apple and Tesla is widening. Apple’s market capitalization is $2.35 trillion (2302 trillion won) as of the 27th. On the other hand, Tesla’s market capitalization is 5939 billion dollars (672 trillion won). It is only about a quarter of Apple’s market cap.

Musk’s hopes of overtaking Apple are becoming increasingly distant. Tesla’s share price has been on the decline every day. On the 26th, Tesla shares closed at $618.71, down 3.3% from the previous day. It fell more than 30% compared to the previous high. Even entering this year, it has dropped by 10%.

It is analyzed that Tesla’s weakening stock price is affected by the reorganization of the electric vehicle market and various negative factors surrounding Tesla. Traditional automakers, which gave Tesla the No. 1 position in the global market cap, are actively targeting the electric vehicle market. Volkswagen held a’Power Day’ event on the 15th and announced that it will be at the forefront of electric mobility by 2025. GM also announced a transformation into an electric vehicle company.

However, Tesla is getting caught up in various bad news. It is reported that the Chinese authorities held a’reservation interview’ (wetan·豫談) last month, demanding compliance with Chinese laws. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Chinese government has imposed a ban on Tesla vehicles for employees of military and state-owned companies.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a detailed investigation into 23 Tesla vehicle crashes suspected of malfunctioning autonomous driving systems. The red light also lit up in the market share. According to Morgan Stanley, Tesla’s share in the U.S. electric car market last month fell to 69% from a year ago (81%). Last year, the market share of the European electric vehicle was only 3rd.

In this situation, some point out that Musk’s tweet, which is confident of the rise in the stock price, may be a problem. These remarks, which seem to be encouraging an uptrend in the stock price, could hurt the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As if conscious of this, the tweet that said it would beat Apple in’a few months’ has since been deleted, but the captured screen is being shared among users.

Musk’s tweet wasn’t a problem once or twice. In 2018, Musk unveiled its plan to buy Tesla stock for $420 per share and make it an unlisted company with the support of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. However, Saudi Arabia denied this and the SEC imposed sanctions.

After Musk revealed Tesla production in a tweet in 2018, the SEC imposed sanctions on Musk’s tweet, saying it could affect the stock price. At the time, the SEC imposed a fine on Musk, and asked Musk to obtain approval from the company when communicating with the public a message containing specific company-related information through social media such as tweets.

Reporter Ha Hyun-ok [email protected]