Tesla was faced with crushing increases in the price of lithium which created a feedback-loop spiral to the downside for investor and speculator expectations.
There were many other factors going on at the same time for Tesla's big slide from $400+ down to $100+ per share, but this picture paints a picture and story which is easy to remember.
One of the biggest costs of producing battery-electric-vehicles (BEV's) is the cost of lithium. This massive run-up in the price of lithium may have exposed Tesla to the uncertain pricing of lithium supplies and may also have encouraged Tesla to begin their own lithium extracting and processing operations. Clearly, this was a problem and it fed into investor expectations and drove the stock lower and lower until finally the fever broke and lithium prices have crashed.
Keep an eye on Lithium prices here at TradingView and set alerts for a heads-up on sharp increases or decreases in the price to have a heads-up on what is happening under the surface.
Tim
10:02AM 8/22/2023 EDT
Comment
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Lithium prices have fallen another 30% and NASDAQ:TSLA is holding higher since this publication first came out on August 22. NASDAQ:TSLA was $231-$233 at that time vs $264 now on October 12th.
I wouldn't expect Lithium to be the day-to-day catalyst for NASDAQ:TSLA share prices but I would think it would be a head-wind or a tail-wind going forward.
The rise in crude oil since August 22nd also may have helped more people choose EV's over ICE vehicles. It's been a long process to watch EV adoption accelerate over these past 10+ years.