Tesla's Retail Fans Undeterred by Delivery Miss, Recession Fears

Even a disappointing quarterly delivery report from Tesla Inc. and the threat of a recession cannot keep the electric-vehicle maker’s loyal retail investors from flocking to the company.

After its third-quarter vehicle deliveries failed to meet analysts’ estimates, Tesla’s shares tumbled on Monday, closing down 8.6%. Still, that did not deter mom-and-pop investors and day traders, who raised their purchases in the stock, a report from Vanda Research shows.

Over the last five trading days, net purchases of Tesla stock by retail investors stood at around $500 million, according to data compiled by Vanda.

“Retail demand is pivotal for a sustained outperformance of the EV company,” Vanda’s Marco Iachini and Giacomo Pierantoni wrote in the note. Tesla, along with iPhone maker Apple Inc., are among the top favorites of retail traders, who are “over-exposed to mega caps,” said Vanda.

Tesla shares have see-sawed this year, but fared largely better than other mega-cap technology stocks. The Elon Musk-led company’s shares are down 29% this year, compared to the NYSE FANG+ Index’s 34% decline.

Still, as a growth stock trading at high multiples, Tesla has not been spared from the market selloff that saw investors fleeing riskier assets in favor of safer havens. And while challenges are plenty -- from supply-chain and logistical troubles, to production disruption and soaring raw material costs -- the biggest issue looming over the shares is Musk’s pending deal with social media platform Twitter Inc. and its potential impact on Tesla.

Tesla shares are trading down 1.8% at $245 premarket Wednesday.