Electric vehicle stocks follow Tesla lower as halo effect fades further

The electric vehicle sector was sharply lower in morning trading on Thursday after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) warned on a notably lower vehicle volume growth rate in 2024 and did not dole out many specifics with its outlook for 2024.

Decliners included Fisker (FSR) -11.8%, Lucid Group (LCID) -10.7%, ChargePoint Holdings (CHPT) -10.8%, Arrival (ARVL) -9.4%, Innoviz Technologies (INVZ) -11.9%, Microvast Holdings (MVST) -11.1%, Electrameccanica Vehicles (SOLO) -7.4%, Beam Global (BEEM) -9.3%, Blink Charging (BLNK) -9.2%, Cenntro Electric (CENN) -8.7%, Tritium DCFC (DCFC) -8.3%, (WBX) -8.9%, Rivian Automotive (RIVN) -8.8%, XPeng (XPEV) -7.8%, XPeng (XPEV) -7.6%, Ouster (OUST) -7.4%, Workhorse Group (WKHS) -7.2%, QuantumScape (QS) -6.2%, and NIO (NIO) -5.5%. VinFast Auto (VFS) was one of the few EV stocks defying the selling pressure with its 2.1% gain standing out, while Ford Motor (F) chugged 1.2% higher.

Tesla's (TSLA) earnings call (transcript) left both analysts and investors underwhelmed after Elon Musk and gang mainly talked about long-term projects. Musk said Tesla (TSLA) is the most advanced company in the terms of AI inference efficiency as he highlighted the FSD rollout. He said the new vehicle manufacturing system will be used to build a next-gen model in Austin before it is rolled out to the new plant in Mexico and then other Gigafactories. What was lacking on the call or Tesla investor update letter were specifics on the outlook for automotive margins and pricing for 2024.

Elon Musk did make an interesting comment on Chinese car companies that is of interest to EV upstarts in the U.S. and established players such as BYD Company (OTCPK:BYDDF).

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were down 11.2% at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday and are swapping hands at a 2024 low.