Tesla sheds nearly $70 billion in market cap after Elon Musk's EV maker warns of slowing sales

• Tesla's stock tumbled 10% Thursday after a weak earnings report.
• The EV maker posted worse-than-expected profit numbers and warned of slowing sales growth.

Tesla's stock price fell Thursday as investors reacted to a weak earnings report that warned of slowing sales growth in 2024.

Shares were down 10% to just around $187 at 10.30 a.m. Eastern Time. Those losses wiped out $66 billion in market capitalization, by Business Insider's calculations.

Tesla posted its quarterly report for the three months ending December 31 late Wednesday. It logged earnings of $0.71 per share, falling short of the $0.74 per share figure that Wall Street had projected, per a Refinitiv poll. Its revenue of $25.2 billion also came in below analysts' expectations.

In a shareholder deck, the EV maker signaled that sales numbers will likely slow this year as it rolls out the Cybertruck and prepares to launch a new, lower-cost model.

"Our company is currently between two major growth waves: the first one began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform and the next one we believe will be initiated by the global expansion of the next-generation vehicle platform," Tesla said.

"In 2024, our vehicle volume growth rate may be notably lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023, as our teams work on the launch of the next-generation vehicle at Gigafactory Texas."

CEO Elon Musk added that how the EV maker performs this year will likely hinge on the Federal Reserve's approach to interest rates. The central bank has hinted it could start lowering borrowing costs with the inflation rate now close to its 2% target.

"We don't have a crystal ball, so it's difficult to predict with precision," Musk told analysts on a post-earnings call. "If interest rates come down quickly, margins will be good – and if they don't, they won't be that good."

Even before Thursday's premarket losses, Tesla's stock had struggled at the start of 2024. Shares have tumbled 16% year-to-date in a sell-off that's put the EV maker's place in the so-called "Magnificent Seven" mega-cap group at risk as its valuation falls away from those of its Big Tech rivals.