Tesla shares declined around 5% mid-day on Monday after updates from Panasonic, its longstanding partner and battery cell supplier, stoked concerns about sluggish demand for EVs once again.
The updates stoked investor concerns about softening demand for EVs, especially for higher-priced EVs that may not qualify for tax breaks or other incentives from government programs in and beyond the US. Panasonic cells have been used in Tesla's older, and higher-priced, Model X SUVs and Model S sedans.
Shares have dropped about 18% since the company's earnings call on Oct. 18. Tesla shortsellers have made $3 billion from that date through Friday's close, according to data from Ortex, a financial information services company based in London. The dollar value of short interest in Tesla stood around $18.08 billion or 3.21% of free float, per Ortex data, as of October 27th.