Tesla shares drop sharply in broader tech sell-off, falling 17% in morning trading

Last Thursday and Friday's public market sell-off has stretched into this week, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite off 2.5% this morning. But while tech shares are down broadly to start the holiday-shortened week -- and are taking stick for bringing down even broader indices -- some well-known technology, and technology-ish companies are suffering even more.

Tesla is one such company, with its equities shedding around 17% of its value in early trading today.

The American electric vehicle and battery company recently split its shares 5-1 after seeing their value shoot past the $2,000 a share mark. In the "stocks only go up" era, Tesla has proved a favorite with bulls. Even calling Tesla a car company -- fact check: 85% of Tesla's revenue in its most recent quarter came from its automotive efforts -- is enough to invite scorn and abuse on social media as acolytes of the company will heckle you for not viewing the company through the same lens tint that they prefer.

Tesla shares gained value during their split process, an oddity, given that the news should have been priced-in before the transaction took place.

Regardless, it's another tough day for Tesla and the declines are starting to add up. According to Yahoo Finance, Tesla's post-split 52-week high is $502.49. The company is currently worth $345.75 per share, meaning that Tesla's value has fallen more than 30% from recent highs.

Update: I missed that the Tesla share sale completed as of this morning, with the car company selling some $5 billion in equity. Given that the sale was completed Friday, per CNN, what impact the news that it is over on the company's should have is slightly opaque. All the same, the context fell critical, so I wanted to add it.

But Tesla is not alone in seeing its worth revalued. The useful Bessemer cloud index of public SaaS companies is off around 1.8%, and is off around 15% from its own recent all-time highs. The Nasdaq Composite is off a more modest 8.9% from its own recent highs.

Concern during this sell-off of tech shares could dampen enthusiasm for the wave of tech and venture-backed companies that are looking to go public while the waters for such debuts remain warm. And it is not hard to guess that if general enthusiasm for risk-oriented shares declines, exotic financial vehicles like SPACs could see their luster diminish.

Regardless, Tesla shares are off sharply today, while Nikola is bouncing on news that GM took an 11% stake (worth $2 billion) in the startup.