Tesla shares fall for a second straight session on Friday, on-site personnel at Nevada battery plant to be cut by 75% due to pandemic

Tesla Inc (TSLA) intends to cut on-site personnel at its Nevada battery facility by nearly 75% because of the spread of COVID-19 illness, the local county manager said last week.

However, more details were not provided and it remained uncertain how many people worked at the plant.

Tesla shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Friday. It has also been the steepest single-session loss since March 18th. The stock went down 2.61% ($13.80) to $514.36, after touching an intraday low at $494.34, or a price level not seen since March 24th ($474.52).

Shares of Tesla Inc have risen 22.96% so far in 2020 compared with a 13.11% loss for the benchmark index, Nasdaq 100 (NDX).

In 2019, Tesla’s stock went up 25.70%, thus, it underperformed the Nasdaq 100, which registered a 37.96% gain.

”Tesla has informed us that the Gigafactory in Storey County is reducing on-site staff by roughly 75% in the coming days,” Austin Osborne said in a post on the county’s website, cited by Reuters.

Tesla’s decision follows an announcement by its battery supplier Panasonic Corp that the Japanese company intends to scale down operations at the Nevada plant and then shut it down for a period of 14 days.

According to the Reno Gazette Journal, Panasonic employs nearly 3,500 people at the facility in Nevada.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 29 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Tesla Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $500.00, with a high estimate of $1,060.00 and a low estimate of $240.00. The median estimate represents a 2.79% downside compared to the closing price of $514.36 on March 27th.

The same media also reported that at least 14 out of 32 surveyed investment analysts had rated Tesla Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 10 – as “Sell”. On the other hand, 7 analysts had recommended buying the stock.