Tesla stock is having its worst year ever, down nearly 70% year to date

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss Tesla stock performance as the EV maker heads towards its worst year on record.

Video transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

BRIAN SOZZI: Welcome back. We're still a few minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street, but let's check in on some trending tickers. Shares of Tesla continue to be in focus as the EV maker is headed for its worst year on record. My day started like this, guys. First thing I do-- check Tesla on our nifty app. It was down 4%. Midway through the morning, though-- and Julie, you joked that the story I wrote on it maybe was the bottom in Tesla. I don't think that's the case. But nonetheless, we are seeing reversal--

JULIE HYMAN: You don't?

BRIAN SOZZI: --in Tesla every day. We're just seeing these continued concerns about demand out of China, demand in the US. I think there was a story in Edmunds looking at declining used car prices for Tesla. It's just a convergence of really bad news. And oh, yeah, I'd even mention the ongoing chaotic situation at Twitter.

- Right, which is now Musk the Tesla overhang rather than the chief marketing officer or the chief executive that would have eventually-- or has been, to this point-- the major catalyst behind why so many people were behind Tesla for years. Now enter in more of the competition that's going to be coming from legacy automakers. You're already starting to see some of the orders there ramp up.

And then additionally, you think about for Tesla, anytime the stock specifically-- have we ever seen a stock, in the past, survive when an executive sells $23 billion worth of shares in such a confined period of time-- in what, just eight months? So that is the time period that has elapsed and this entire upside-down that's initiated as a result of Tesla's-- really, not even just the management team overall, but really, just the one person themselves who's triggered much of the selloff in the stock as well.

BRIAN SOZZI: And the next-- I talked a couple of analysts on Tesla, and they don't even know what would, I think, cause or get the stock to turn around. Of course, if Musk steps down from Twitter as CEO, maybe that would do it. But there's another potential negative news point coming up. In the first week in January, Tesla is going to come out with its delivery numbers. And most people on the Street are looking for that number to disappoint.

JULIE HYMAN: Well, but they're already looking for the number to disappoint. So if the expectations are already pretty bad, maybe that leaves some room for upside. Who knows, right? This is the worst year that Tesla has ever had in terms of its stock, far and away, with the stock down nearly 70%. It's only had one other down year, and that was in 2016 when it fell about 11%, which is pretty remarkable if you think back over Tesla's history as a public company and, at times, the really acute sentiment that was going against it, the fact that it only had one other negative year and was down 11%. And now this year, when it is bigger than ever and selling more vehicles than ever, it's sort of ironic that it is down as much as it has.

Of course, we've talked at length about some of the challenges facing Tesla. But nonetheless, I just find it interesting, given where it is now, that it's sort of at the top, if you will, and now is when it is seeing that deterioration in the stock.

- I mean, we were at the beginning of the year thinking of this company as one that could be a potential-- as they were looking to initiate stock splits or had come off of one back in August of 2020, and then now initiating another one this year, we were talking about this as a company that could be vying for a position in the Dow. And now with all of the competition, of course, from the companies that have initiated stock splits within tech that were looking to get into the Dow, Tesla is probably one of the last considerations that, of those companies, would make its way into that coveted 30-component index should there be some roll-off in the near--

JULIE HYMAN: I mean, it's still a $344 billion company.

- It is.

BRIAN SOZZI: We've watched a total bursting of a bubble in here. And I've seen it with cannabis stocks. I've seen it in many other sectors through the years. It's just a total bubble has burst. And why has that bubble burst? A large part of it has been driven by hype by Elon Musk. The fundamentals have been OK, but a large part of the valuation of Tesla is based on him and what he's trying to do.

JULIE HYMAN: Well, and he's not wrong that the Fed has something to do with it, right?