Tesla’s Terrible Week Ends With Another Price Cut, Second Round of Rivian Layoffs, Lucid Wins Long-Term Indoor EV and More: Biggest EV Stories of the Week – Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Most electric car stocks pulled back along with the broader market in the week ended April 19, with company-specific developments also weighing on the stock. It was a week to forget Tesla, Inc. TSLAas the stock settled at its lowest level since January 2023.

Here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:

Tesla’s Job Cuts, Re-Ratings and More: Tesla chose to right-size operations despite its fundamental problems. Email from the CEO Elon Musk shared with the media said the company let go of 10% of its global workforce, a total of 14,000 workers. Musk justified the move by saying at X, “Every half a decade or so, Tesla has to undergo a complete organizational overhaul to get to the next level.”

Notable among the layoffs is the SVP of Powertrain and Energy Engineering Andrew Baglino and Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development Rohan Patel. The News report said that, with the removal, Musk now has a firm grip on the company, with at least 35 senior employees reporting directly to him. A professor of organizational behavior at Stanford said this is “a catalyst for CEO overload and becoming a bottleneck.”

The week also saw several sell-side analysts cut their price targets and estimates, just ahead of the first-quarter earnings date. Their main concern is that the company could confirm rumors that it has changed focus from making electric cars under $30K to focus on refining full-autonomous technology and. robotaxi services.

To make matters worse, late Friday, the company announced a $2,000 discount on all Model S, X and Y EV accessories. The electric car maker has continued its strategy of reducing prices, although it has not increased sales significantly.

Musk also confirmed that he will not visit India early next week, citing Tesla’s “very heavy responsibilities.” “But I’m really looking forward to visiting later this year,” he said.

See Also: Best Electric Car Storage

Rivian Announces More Job Cuts: Close on the heels of Tesla’s job cuts, Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN is reportedly cutting 1% of its workforce amid an industry-wide downturn. While Rivian’s previous layoffs in February affected product teams and those working on the company’s commercial EVs, the latest round of layoffs will significantly affect its support and office staff, Bloomberg reported.

This week, the Needham analyst Chris Pierce also lowered its price target on Rivian shares from $18 to $13, while maintaining a “Buy” rating. The reduction in the price target was to account for the difficult EV demand environment even as the company is optimistic about the company’s long-term fundamentals.

Canoo Activated When Buying: Benchmark has started coverage is on Canoo, Inc. GOEV with a “Buy” rating and a $5 price target per share. Analysts at the company gave their bullish recommendation on the successful restructuring of the company’s management and its targeted approach to the commercial shipping market.

Lucid 2024 Air Grand Touring Performance: Advanced EV maker Lucid Group, Inc. LCID announced this week details about 2024 Lucid Air Grand Touring, including an additional layer. The company said the vehicle has an EPA-estimated range of 516 miles, the longest range of any EV currently on the US market. The 2024 Lucid Air Grand Touring has a starting price of $109,900.

See more of Benzinga’s Future of Mobility news and follow this link.

Fisker Announces New Dealer Partnership: EV initialization failed Fisker, Inc. FSR, which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, said it signed Fisker Miami as a merchant partner, its second in Florida after Fisker Jacksonville. The company announced a strategic shift to a “Dealer-Partnership” model in January 2024. Fisker also said it signed dealer partners in Hilleord, Denmark, and Innsbruck, Austria, bringing its European total to 12 dealer partners.

The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF KARS ended Friday’s session down 1.96% at $21.04, according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF fell by 2.46%.

Read Next: Management Expert Warns Elon Musk Faces ‘CEO’ After Tesla Firing Reportedly Leaves Him In Charge of 35 Key Employees

EV Stock Performance For The Week:

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