We're not hardcore investors or financial experts at InsideEVs, but it seems that investing in Tesla stock is a risky business. There are avid investors on both sides of the game, and both have won and lost over the years. This is because Tesla's stock is extremely volatile, and it seems it can be manipulated by the media in a big way.
Yesterday, a report published by The Information, which is mostly behind a paywall, suggested that Tesla's China sales were down by nearly half in the month of May as compared to April. The report cites a "person with knowledge of the data." The report reads via Electrek:
“The company’s monthly net orders in China dropped to about 9,800 in May from more than 18,000 in April, according to a person with knowledge of the data. The sharp drop reflected a drastic shift in Chinese consumers’ appetite for Tesla, whose founder Elon Musk has celebrity status there."
It goes on to say that Model Y orders surged in January in China shortly after the electric crossover was first launched. March marked a record high for Tesla vehicles coming out of the Shanghai Gigafactory, at some 21,000 net orders. However, the person explained that orders have not recovered of late, even when looking at a week-to-week comparison.
The article points to Tesla's recent issues in China related to protests, false claims of brake issues, customer service concerns, and more. The impact here all comes despite Chinese media outlets and even some individuals coming forward and apologizing for reporting false information, in addition to Tesla ramping up its government interaction and customer service efforts in the country.
If the numbers are real, Tesla may have some catching up to do. However, other "sources familiar with the matter" have already tried to debunk claims. Some have gone so far as to post on social media that Tesla's China sales in May have spiked significantly, and may have surpassed that of the record high in March.
We could go on and on speculating here, but since none of the sources have revealed themselves, and nothing is substantiated, what's the point? We'd rather start a conversation in our comment section and get your take on this situation.
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With that said, we'll reiterate here that this is why covering Tesla is so difficult. Nearly every day, and sometimes multiple times per day, Tesla stories hit the media with unsubstantiated information from anonymous sources. Many times, they are proven to be false. Other times, they're true, or at least true in part.
The sad part here is there is so much information and misinformation out there about Tesla, it's nearly impossible to know what to believe.
Source: Autoblog