Tesla shares fall amid reports that Supercharger unit slashed

By Mike Murphy

Tesla Inc. shares dropped Tuesday after the electric-vehicle maker reportedly cut hundreds of more jobs, including its entire Supercharger unit.

The Information first reported the company's latest layoffs, which were later confirmed by Bloomberg News and the New York Times.

According to the reports, about 500 people were laid off - including Rebecca Tinucci, senior director of the Supercharger group, and Daniel Ho, head of Tesla's new-vehicles program.

According to an internal memo obtained by The Information, Chief Executive Elon Musk was frustrated by falling sales and the slow pace of previously announced layoffs.

The latest cuts come after Tesla laid off about 10% of its workforce in mid-April.

The Supercharger unit is responsible for Tesla's steadily growing network of public recharging stations, which is becoming the industry standard for electric vehicles, with rivals such as Ford Motor Co. (F) and General Motors Co. (GM) switching to Tesla-compatible charging.

Tesla (TSLA) did not respond to a request for comment. In a tweet Tuesday, Musk said: "Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations."

The layoffs have raised worries that the move will slow the wider adoption of EVs in the U.S., if there are fewer-than-expected charging stations being built.

Tesla shares fell 5.5% on Tuesday, though they're still up about 27% over the past five trading sessions. Despite reporting sharp drops in quarterly profit and revenue in the first quarter, Tesla shares surged last week as Musk promised an affordable EV by early next year.

The company's stock is down about 26% year to date, compared to the S&P 500's SPX 5.6% gain.

-Mike Murphy

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04-30-24 1858ET

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