Tesla's disappointing earnings report cost investors big time — including Elon Musk. But one person gained from the pain.
The nearly 10% drop in the value of Tesla Thursday knocks the electric car company's market value to $516.6 billion, down $55.8 billion in a day. That pushes the company's value ranking to No. 8 within the S&P 500. That puts Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms back ahead of Tesla in terms of market value at $546.6 billion. And that's not to mention the other part of Musk's costly bad day: The explosion of his ambitious SpaceX rocket.
Thursday was just another setback for Tesla, which is trying to recover from the stock's big drop last year.
"Tesla's earnings disappointed investors with lackluster margins. Tesla has continued to cut prices for its Model 3 and Model Y, which adversely affects net income and leads to lower profit margins," said Robert Schein, chief investment officer at Blanke Schein Wealth Management.
Meta's Comeback
But Tesla's woes come amid a comeback for Zuckerberg's Meta.
Regaining its stature in the S&P 500 is a welcome change for Meta Platforms. The social media company that pivoted to the metaverse saw its stock crater last year. Coming into 2023, Meta's value had dropped to just $315 billion. That ranked it just No. 19 in the S&P 500 and well behind Musk's Tesla, then valued at $389 billion.
But the tables have turned. Since then, shares of Meta are up 77%, making it one of the top-performing big-cap stocks on the S&P 500. Tesla's shares, too, are still up 32% this year, but slipped behind Meta in terms of market value.
All eyes are now on Meta. The company on April 26 is expected to report a first-quarter profit of $1.95, down 28% from the same year-ago period. Musk might be hoping for a miss.
Meta Passes Up Musk
Meta Platform's market value now tops Tesla's
| Company | Ticker | Market value ($ billions) | YTD % ch. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | $2,636 | 28.3% | |
| Microsoft | $2,129 | 19.3% | |
| Alphabet | $1,348 | 19.3% | |
| Amazon.com | $1,064 | 23.6% | |
| Berkshire Hathaway | $722 | 5.9% | |
| Nvidia | $668 | 85.5% | |
| Meta Platforms | $546 | 77.1% | |
| Tesla | $516 | 32.3% | |
| Visa | $482 | 12.9% | |
| Exxon Mobil | $469 | 4.8% |
Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, IBD,
Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz
