Tesla Loses All the Gains From 35% Rally Stoked by Hertz Electric Vehicle Deal

Tesla Inc.’s stock went on a tear after an October deal with Hertz Global Holdings Inc. signaled broader mainstream adoption of its electric cars.

But that 35% rally is gone now.

Tesla slid 3.5% on Monday, closing at $899.94. That put the shares below where they’d closed right before the $4.2 billion Hertz deal was revealed on Oct. 25.

The stock, which peaked on Nov. 4, is down 21% in December, poised for the worst month since the pandemic-fueled rout in March 2020.

Hertz’s order for 100,000 vehicles had sent Elon Musk-led Tesla’s shares on a near-vertical rise, pushing the company’s valuation well above the coveted trillion-dollar mark. Yet, the rally soon started wobbling after Musk started offloading some of his stake in the company. Tesla’s market cap is now about $904 billion.

A broad market decline weighed on Tesla Monday, with renewable-energy firms such as solar companies and other electric-vehicle makers broadly underperforming after Senator Joe Manchin said he wouldn’t support President Joe Biden’s spending plan. Nikola Corp. fell 7.3%, the most since Nov. 18, while Rivian Automotive Inc. dropped 7.9%. Workhorse Group Inc. was lower by 8.9%, and Lordstown Motors Corp. fell 8.2%.