What happened
Shares of Tesla (TSLA 3.55%) were down 6.6% to $248.57 as of 10 a.m. EDT on Monday, after several developments over the holiday weekend added to a rapidly growing list of investor concerns about the electric-car maker's finances and manufacturing.
So what
Tesla's stock price fell over 22% in March on a long list of investor concerns. More issues came to light over the weekend:
- After the market closed for the week on Thursday, Tesla announced that it's recalling 123,000 Model S sedans for a problem with the cars' steering assembly.
- On Friday, Tesla disclosed that Autopilot was in use when a Model X crashed hard into a highway barrier in California on March 23, killing its driver.
- A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, which had opened an investigation into that accident last week, said on Sunday that the agency wasn't happy with Tesla's decision to release information on the crash, and that its investigation is ongoing.
A Tesla Model 3. Image source: Tesla, Inc.
Now what
Trying for some April Fool's humor, CEO Elon Musk joked about the company's impending bankruptcy in a series of tweets on Sunday afternoon.
Tesla Goes Bankrupt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.
It didn't help. Investors now await the release of Tesla's first-quarter production and delivery totals, expected today or tomorrow.
