Tesla stock was rising in premarket trading Friday after CEO Elon Musk said the electric-vehicle company would be spending "well over" $500 million to expand its Supercharger network.
In a post Friday on his social media platform X, Musk said Tesla would be creating "thousands of NEW chargers this year. That's just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher."
The announcement from Musk follows reports last week that said Tesla was cutting its Supercharger team of around 500 people.
The gains for Tesla Friday put the stock on track to halt three consecutive down days.
Shares rose nearly 1% in premarket trading to $173.64, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures both were rising 0.4%.
Coming into Friday, Tesla stock has fallen about 5% for the week with drops on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Investors have had to deal with a little bit of everything this week. On Thursday, a former Tesla employee wrote on LinkedIn that recent layoffs could erode the company's culture. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Justice Department was looking at Tesla's marketing of its driver-assistance systems. On Monday, the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration sent a letter to Tesla requesting information about 20 vehicles that might have been involved in accidents with driver-assistance systems turned on.
There's been a lot to digest, resulting in the stock giving up some recent gains. Through Thursday, Tesla shares were up 21% from the 52-week closing low reached on April 22, just before Tesla reported better-than-feared earnings the next. That has left shares down about 31% this year.
Comments