‘Our stock will immediately get crushed…’, warns Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an e-mail to employees on Tuesday warning them that they need to control their spending in order to continue squeaking out quarterly profits, even though shares of Tesla are trading at all-time highs ahead of the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500.

This year, among other things, Tesla began spending to build a new factory near Austin, Texas, and another near Berlin. The company also embarked on a makeover of its paint facilities, which are part of its U.S. vehicle assembly plant in Fremont, California.

“Investors are giving us a lot of credit for future profitability but if, at any point, they conclude that’s not going to happen, our stock will immediately get crushed like a souffle under a sledgehammer!” Musk wrote in the email.

In early 2020, amid sluggish auto sales the world over, Tesla cut some employees’ pay temporarily, slashed contracts with temporary workers and fired an undisclosed number of workers after an annual performance review process. It has since rehired contractors and restored employee pay.