Tuesday's Market Minute: Tesla's Fremont Plant To Open Full Speed Ahead

On Tuesday morning, Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk announced they will re-open the California plant in defiance of local authorities. Musk also stated he will be on the assembly line with the other Tesla workers, and asked that he be the only one arrested if officials decide that is the appropriate action. Over the weekend, Musk tweeted Tesla was filing a lawsuit against Alameda County, where the Fremont plant is located. Musk also threatened he will move Tesla’s headquarters to Texas or Nevada “immediately” in response to California’s Covid-19 shutdown plan. Despite headwinds trailing the auto industry as a result of the recent economic slowdown, Tesla is the top performer in the Nasdaq-100 index so far in 2020, posting gains of roughly 95%. In the last 24 months, shares are up more than 170% compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 0.01%. Production has also remained on the forefront of investor’s minds. The auto company produced 103,000 vehicles in 1Q20, and delivered 88,400 vehicles, marking its best-ever first quarter. However, investors should remember this data includes the last week of March when its California operations were closed due to Covid-19.

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