Tesla Under Pressure 

Shares in Tesla have come under fresh selling pressure this week. Initially sales were linked to news that Tesla was recalling around 40,000 electric vehicles in the US due to a power-steering problem.  However, bearish sentiment intensified midweek on news that Elon Musk has offloaded another round of shares.

Musk Sells More

Filings with the US financial watchdog this week show that on the back of closing his Twitter takeover deal, Musk sold around 20 million shares in Tesla, roughly $4 billion in total. With this latest tranche of selling, Musk has now sold around $20 billion in Tesla shares this year since announcing his takeover bid for Twitter.

Twitter Deal Link

While no details have been provided as to why the sale took place, the news is certainly concerning for stockholders given that Musk reassured investors in August that he was done with selling and would not be offloading anymore of his stake. Given the proximity to the Twitter deal it’s reasonable to assume the sales fulfill a cashflow need for Musk. However, the selling will no doubt continue to eat away at the almost cult-like following Musk enjoyed from Tesla devotees.

Technical Views

Tesla

The sell off in Tesla shares this week has seen the stock dropping through the 207.71 base which had underpinned the market over recent weeks. This is a key technical development for Tesla and puts focus on a continuation lower near-term. While within the bear channel, the next level to watch is the 183.26 level, a break of which opens the way for a run down to 154.46 next.