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Its not only cryptocurrency investors who are seeing red today. If youre an investor in Elon Musks Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), the trading day is off to another bad start. Thats because Tesla shares are currently down over 6% to below $267 a share as of the time of this writing. Todays early-morning drop is just the latest one for the electric carmaker since the beginning of the year, with TSLA shares down over 33% in 2025 so far. Increasingly, theyve fallen nearer to an important psychological price barrier: $251, which is where they were trading on November 5, 2024 when President Trump won the election. In other words, Tesla is close to losing all of the gains it had made since Trump’s victory. Exactly why are TSLA shares falling this morning? There are two likely immediate reasons. Tesla sales crash in China in February China is Teslas second most important market after the U.S. However, sales in the country reportedly fell off a cliff last month. In February 2025, Tesla sold just 30,688 cars in China. That is a staggering decline of 49.2% from a year earlier. Its also the lowest number of vehicles Tesla has sold in any month in China since August 2022. However, there are a few onetime events that may have contributed to this drop. First, Tesla had to partially suspend the production of the Model Y in the country due to upgrade work. Second, there was a shift in the Lunar New Year holidays this year, which could have contributed to fewer people car shopping during the February period. However, as Reuters notes, one-offs werent the only reasons behind the fall. During the same month, one of Teslas main Chinese competitors, BYD, reported 614,679 vehicles solda 90.4% increase. Tesla is also facing an EV price war in the country. BYD recently released an EV with driving-assistance technology. The starting price of that vehicle is less than $10,000 USD. Teslas Model Y starts at around $35,000 USD in China. And BYD isnt the only rival Tesla faces in China. Other companies in the country, including Geely and Leapmotor, have recently entered into the EV price wars, heaping more competition on the company. Teslas nearly 50% sales drop in China during the month follows recent falls in other countries. Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) shows that Tesla has recently seen a 45.2% drop in the European Union, Britain, and the European Free Trade Area. Bank of America downgrades TSLA stock A second bit of news seems to be rattling Tesla investors this morning, too. Bank of America has downgraded Teslas stock price. Previously, BoA held a $490 price target for TSLA shares, but now it’s reduced that target to $380. At $380, thats still about $110 higher than where Tesla is right now, but it’s a huge drop from the nearly $500 price point that BoA previously had on the stock. Its worth noting that Bank of America has maintained its neutral rating on TSLA shares. Trump trade wars and DOGE President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China in the past day may also be weighing on Tesla stock. Those tariffsas well as retaliatory actions taken by America’s three largest trading partnersare spooking markets in general this morning. Economists worry that the tit-for-tat tariffs could signal that the largest economies in the world are on the cusp of a massive trade warone that would not benefit the economies of any country involved, nor the larger global economy. If the global economy worsens, it could lead to consumers pulling back on spending on everything from cars to computers. Todays 6%-plus decline in Teslas stock may also partially be blamed on ongoing worries that Elon Musks political activities and his involvement with the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may be tarnishing the companys brand image beyond repair. Not since Steve Jobs and Apple has one man been so connected to a company in the eyes of the public. If Elon Musks political antics continue to generate anger against the buying publicespecially the affluent, progressive, environmentally conscious consumers who tend to buy his carsinvestors worry those customers may abandon the brand. Where does Tesla go from here? Where TSLA shares go from here is anyones guess. Tesla recently passed a grim milestone last month when it lost its status as a company with a $1 trillion market cap. As of the time of this writing, Tesla is now worth below $900 billion. In December, TSLA shares closed at an all-time high of over $488. They have fallen more than $222 since then.
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E-Commerce
Sycamore Partners is planning a three-way split of Walgreens Boots Alliance if a deal to take the struggling pharmacy chain private is reached, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Walgreens’s three businessesU.S. retail pharmacy, Boots UK, and U.S. healthcarewill be separated and have distinct capital structures, according to the report. Sycamore and Walgreens both declined to comment on the report. Shares of the Deerfield, Illionois-based company rose 5% to $11.62 in early trading. The report “marks another twist in the potential go-private story” for Walgreens, Leerink analyst Michael Cherny said. Walgreens has reportedly been in talks to sell itself to private equity firm Sycamore since December, but a deal is yet to be reached. Media reports have also pointed to issues with financing for a buyout and discussion with Sycamore briefly falling out. The financing of the take-private deal is not expected to be an obstacle, according to the FT report. Walgreens’ executive chairman Stefano Pessina, who currently holds a 17% stake, is expected to maintain a significant share of the company, it added. Bhanvi Satija and Sriparna Roy, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Ticketing platform Eventbrite has a new lookand an overhauled mobile app. The company just unveiled its first brand refresh and app redesign since 2019, signaling its increasing focus on surfacing event recommendations for its users.Coming less than a week after Eventbrite shared its Q4 and full-year 2024 earningsposting a loss of $8.4 million for the quarter and loss of $15.6 million for the yearthe new app is designed, in part, to help shore up the companys 10% year-over-year decline in ticket sales by emphasizing event discovery. To do that, CEO and cofounder Julia Hartz tells Fast Company that Eventbrites strategy is cribbing somewhat from the music streaming world. We believe that event discovery should be as intuitive as discovering music on Spotify, she says. [Image: Eventbrite]The redesign and strategy shift is also informed by Eventbrites consumer research, which found users between 18 and 34 increasingly driven to attend live eventswhich Hartz calls fourth spacesby a desire to bring their online interests into the real worldfrom podcasts to cooking and crafting. Were highlighting that niche is the new mass, especially for Gen Z and live experiences, she says. Driving DiscoveryPutting a new app at the center of its strategy is how Eventbrite wants to capitalize on a highly engaged subset of users. Some 10% of the companys 90 million monthly active users use the app, and that number is increasing at about 17% year over year. In a move pulled straight from streaming, Eventbrites Discover tab offers users recommendations based on past purchases. The new app also introduces It Listguides to events in 12 markets curated by more than 25 people Eventbrite calls cultural creators. In Chicago, for example, author Rebecca Makkai offers a guide to social art and literature events, and in Toronto, DJ Hangaëlle gives users a guide to the citys nightlife. Users are able to save events theyre interested to come back to later, with a dedicated Saved tab in the app. [Image: Eventbrite]Curated discovery is a game-changer Hartz says, noting that early tests found that users engaging with It Lists are twice as likely to buy a ticket. Thats not a new concept, but we bring it to life in this new experience. We know a lot about consumers, what they want to do, and how to drive action from intent, which is a big leap when youre thinking about buying tickets to an event.The new app also builds in a social function, allowing users to find and follow friends and see what events they may be attending. Hartz teases more features down the line, including user-generated It Lists. [That would be] another way of connecting with your digital community and getting your friends to want to go out and experience real life with you, she says. [Image: Eventbrite]Giving organizers a boostHartzs comparison to the Spotify experience in the new app also extends to Eventbrites tools that help hosts promote their upcoming events. Since 2022, Eventbrite Ads has been a way for event planners to boost visibility of a listingnot unlike Spotifys Discover Mode, which artists use to be promoted into a listeners autoplay mix. [Image: Eventbrite]The ads program, which was introduced in 2022, has been a solid growth driver for the company, posting year-over-year revenue increases of 34% in Q4 and 83% for the full year. Hartz told investors last week that events using the ads tool sold four times more tickets than events that didnt. She says thats in part because of how engaged its app users are versus users on social media. [Image: Eventbrite]While youre getting a mass audience on Instagram, youre getting a super high-intent audience on Eventbrite, she says, noting that app users are two and half times more active in ticket sales than other users. Thats helped incentivize bringing the ads program into the redesigned app. Were expanding Ads placements to be in heavily trafficked places like It Lists and and category-specific landing pages, Hartz says. Were making it possible for creators to partake in that high-intent experience.[Image: Eventbrite]Cornering the fourth spaceIn surveying the swath of Gen Z and millennials aged 18 to 34, Hartz says Eventbrite is seeing the long tail of pandemic-fueled isolation start to evolve into renewed interest in IRL experiencesbut for increasingly niche interests cultivated online. Eventbrite found three-quarters of the people it surveyed planned to spend more money on live events in the next six months. With home, work, and public spaces like parks and cafes constituting the first, second, and third spaces, Hartz sees these eventsamong them cosplay speed dating, run clubs, and culinary experiencesas a fourth space.[Image: Eventbrite]Theres a mashup of niche interests coming together in really creative ways offline, she says. We think of ourselves as the infrastructure for fourth spaces.When talking about Eventbrites focus on surfacing new events for niche audiences, Hartz sounds more like the head of a streamer than a ticketing platform. Its an ambitious framing, but its not an accident.Were not ticketing large concerts and arenas and stadiumswere ticketing everything else that isnt a backyard barbecue or birthday party, she says. Because of that, I think of Eventbrites content as a new type of mediacontent brought to life in tiny and massive ways. I think you could say that our competition is staying home and sitting on the couch.
Category:
E-Commerce
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