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Teslas stock (Nasdaq:TSLA) moved lower once again Monday, falling almost 5% in midday trading, the continuation of a fairly steady decline since Donald Trump took office. Shares of the automaker (trading at around $384 per share in midday trading) are down more than $43 a share since their close on Jan. 17, a dip of more than 10%. That comes as CEO Elon Musk has been spending a large percentage of his time running the Department of Government Efficiency in Washington, D.C. and not focusing as heavily on Tesla. The steady drop in Teslas stock is likely due to a variety of factors. Mondays decline follows news that Tesla has lost market share in Sweden and Norway, despite a large increase in overall car demand. In January, Tesla sold 405 new vehicles in Sweden, a 44% drop from the year prior. Norway was down 38% with 689 vehicle sales. Also, the looming enforcement of tariffs on China and Canada (Mexico has been given a one-month delay) are scaring investors. Musk recently conceded on an earnings call with analysts that while Tesla has tried to localize its supply chain, its still very reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses. Therefore, the imposition of tariffs, which is very likely, will have an impact on our business and profitability. Canada is a key supplier of automotive parts, as is China. And Canadian officials are specifically focusing some of their ire about Trumps tariffs on Musk. Premier Doug Ford announced Monday Ontario would scrap a $100 million contact with Starlink, which is part of Musks SpaceX. (Musk met that news with a tweet reading, Oh well Monday afternoon.) Earnings miss The concern surrounding overseas sales and tariffs comes on the heels of the companys disappointing fourth quarter earnings last Wednesday. The company reported earnings of 73 cents per share, compared to analyst expectations of 76 cents and revenues of $25.71 billion, versus an anticipated $27.26 billion. Revenues were down 8% compared to the same quarter the year prior. Last year marked the first time Tesla deliveries came in lower than the year before. All totaled, the automaker delivered 1.8 million vehicles to customers in 2024. (Tesla does not report precise sales figures, so deliveries are the best barometer of that figure.) Tesla did not reply to Fast Companys request for comment about the stock drop. The company did see a big surge in stock price following Trumps election last November, but has surrendered most of those gains. Tesla closed at just over $342 per share on Nov. 20. It peaked just under $480, but now stands around $384. Tesla stock also has a staggeringly high price-to-earnings ratio. On Monday, it stood at 188.95, compared to Apple and Microsoft, which are in the low- to mid-30s, and the average, which generally ranges from 20 to 25. (Higher P/E ratios indicate a company could be overvalued.) Shareholder questions Musk himself could be causing some of the investor agita, however. His focus on DOGE and government issues has not escaped the companys shareholders. Prior to the Q4 earnings call, investor-submitted questions in the companys digital forum with a slew of concerns about the amount of time Musk is spending at the White House, along with some of his recent actions, including a gesture that has been likened to a Nazi salute. A sampling of those reads: How much time does Elon Musk intend to spend at the White House and on government activities vs time and effort dedicated to Tesla? How much time does Elon Musk devote to growing Tesla, solving product issues, and driving shareholder value vs. his public engagements with Trump, DOGE, and political activities? Do you believe hes providing Tesla the focus it needs? Does the board plan to review the negative image that Elon Musk is having on the Tesla brand and the conflicts between his politics and the Mission Statement? We cant pretend that Elons erratic actions arent negatively effecting [sic] the stock price and brands reputation. What is your plan to curtail the CEOs behavior, and/or replace his position to secure a more likely longevity as a brand? None of those questions were answered.
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E-Commerce
OpenAI is further proving that 2025 is the year of agentic AI. The artificial intelligence giant revealed another new feature from ChatGPT this week, called Deep Research, which it claims can gather research from across the web and summarize it in easy-to-read reports. “Deep research is OpenAI’s next agent that can do work for you independentlyyou give it a prompt, and ChatGPT will find, analyze, and synthesize hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst,” the company wrote in a Sunday blog post. Every output shows clear citations and a summary of the agent’s thinking. The tool is powered by its upcoming OpenAI o3 model, which it says “leverages reasoning to search, interpret, and analyze massive amounts of text, images, and PDFs on the internet, pivoting as needed in reaction to information it encounters.” OpenAI says deep research could take anywhere from five minutes to 30 minutes (compared to several minutes to several hours for a human to do). It will alert users when the task is complete, meaning they can step away and get other tasks done. Deep research is available to users who subscribe to GPT Pro, its $200 a month service. It plans to expand it to other paid services over time. But there are limitations. OpenAI said Deep Research can sometimes hallucinate facts or make incorrect inferences. It may also struggle to distinguish rumors from authoritative information. OpenAI said it expects the issues to “quickly improve with more usage and time.” This category of tech, called agentic AI, is different from standard chatbots. Agentic AI can autonomously complete taskslike scheduling a meeting, buying a car, or ordering dinnerwith little human supervision. They understand natural language, set goals, make decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances. Many experts are betting on agentic AI being the next frontier in AI. “Looking further ahead, we envision agentic experiences coming together in ChatGPT for asynchronous, real-world research and execution,” the company said.
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E-Commerce
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted at a return to OG Facebook during last week’s Q4 earnings call, listing it as a key goal for 2025. But what exactly does that mean? So far, Meta hasnt offered any clear details. Could Zuckerberg mean the millennial meme-filled Facebook of the 2010s or the masculine energy of its controversial origins as Facemash (a site that ranked Harvard classmates by attractiveness without consent)? Asked about his plans for the OG Facebook, Zuckerberg replied, I think some of this will kind of get back to how Facebook was originally used back in the day,, while tight-lipped on any other details. I think there are a lot of opportunities to make [Facebook] way more culturally influential than it is today, he said. Zuckerberg cautioned investors that these changes may require some tradeoffs in terms of maximizing business results in the near term, hinting at potential revenue impacts. The first wave of product updates is expected to roll out within the next six months. Now, OG Facebook could mean different things to different people. For many, its a throwback to the days before Boomer and Gen X relatives took over. These days, Facebook is often used begrudgingly by those under the age of 30 and is more synonymous with offensive memes and AI slop than cutting-edge youth culture. Studies show Gen Z overwhelmingly prefers TikTok and Snapchat, platforms that exist outside of Metas reach. A 2024 Pew Research survey showed that only 33% of U.S. teens (13-17) use Facebook, a steep drop from 71% a decade ago. One thing is clear, the platform is in desperate need of younger users to stay relevant. Meta has tried, and failed, to course-correct before. In 2020, it launched Facebook Campus, a college-only space meant to recapture its early exclusivity. It flopped within 18 months. More recently, in October 2024, the company rolled out a Gen Z-focused redesign putting greater emphasis on local communities, video, and Facebook Groups. Last year, it even quietly resurrected the Poke button. Can Facebook pull off the rebrand of 2025? Thats for Gen Z to decide.
Category:
E-Commerce
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