Tesla stock is plummeting because Elon Musk has too many unfinished projects, investor Ross Gerber says.

• Ross Gerber said Tesla stock has plummeted this year because Elon Musk has too many unfinished projects.

• Tesla investors said the company is currently valued by investors primarily as a car company.

• Gerber has criticized Musk’s leadership of Tesla over the last year.

Investor Ross Gerber says Tesla stock is depressed because Elon Musk has too many unfinished projects at the company.

Longtime Tesla bulls pointed to a variety of headwinds that Musk’s company has battled over the past year, including increased competition. With Tesla still trying to corner competitors like BYD in China, the company announced significant price cuts on some models last year.

Tesla sold 60,365 cars in China last month, the lowest sales volume in the country since December 2022, according to data from the China Passenger Vehicle Association. Gerber warned that foreign competition remains a core issue for the automaker, saying it is drawing attention away from Tesla’s other projects.

“Investors are reevaluating Tesla as a hardware company rather than a software company,” Gerber said in an interview with CNBC on Monday. “We have to rely on all the things car companies are doing to increase demand. body,” he said.

Tesla has many unfinished projects. Gerber said the company is not yet ready for full self-driving technology, which is essential to adding value.

Musk has also threatened to keep AI projects away from Tesla unless he acquires a 25% stake in the company, a demand Gerber previously called “delusional.”

“These are the brand levers that gave Tesla a premium. And between Elon’s actions and many of these projects not being completed, Tesla now has a more reasonable valuation, a reality to what it should be.” We’re getting close to that.”

Gerber, who previously ran for Tesla’s board, has been critical of Musk and warned last year about the headwinds facing Tesla. Gerber said earlier this year that Musk had effectively “stepped down” as Tesla’s CEO following his erratic behavior at Company X and was “blackmailing” investors into increasing his control over the company. Stated.

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The risks posed by Musk’s leadership are not lost on other Tesla investors. A group of 17 shareholders sent a letter to Tesla’s board in 2023 asking it to rein in Mr. Musk amid the tumultuous Twitter acquisition.

Tesla shares fell about 3% early Tuesday, trading around $183.15 per share. The stock has fallen 24% since the beginning of the year, leading some investors to believe the company is no longer lumped in with the Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech stocks that have led the stock market outperformance for much of last year. It points out that it cannot be done.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

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