Wall Street just experienced the worst first half of a year in decades, and unfortunately, the second half of 2022 doesn’t look to be shaping up much better. After a reasonable gain on Friday, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.18%) looks poised to resume its descent when the market opens for trading on Tuesday morning. As of 8:30 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures had been down almost 1.5% to 11,452.
Tesla (TSLA -1.71%) played a significant role in the bull market in the Nasdaq between early 2020 and late 2021, and it still commands a lot of investor attention. Disappointing news over the weekend confirmed some of the weakness the electric vehicle (EV) pioneer has seen lately, and that has shareholders less than happy about its immediate future. However, another large Nasdaq stock took an even bigger hit early Tuesday. Here’s why Tesla is falling, and the stock that’s falling even further.
Tesla can’t deliver
Shares of Tesla were down nearly 2% in premarket trading, exceeding the losses in the broader Nasdaq. The move lower for the EV company came after it announced its latest production and delivery figures for the just-ended second quarter of 2022.
Tesla delivered 254,695 vehicles between April and June, including more than 238,500 Model 3 and Model Y EVs. Production figures came in at 258,580, with nearly 242,200 Model 3s and Model Ys manufactured during the three-month period.
Those figures disappointed investors because they were lower than the corresponding figures from the first quarter. Tesla delivered more than 310,000 vehicles and produced more than 305,400 EVs from January to March 2022.
Factory shutdowns were largely to blame for the declines, as the disruptions to its Gigafactory facility in China due to COVID-19 restrictions curtailed production there. Ongoing supply chain disruptions hurt Tesla across its production network as well, but the automaker did say that June 2022 was its highest vehicle production month in its history.
Tesla’s stock was a star performer in 2020 and through much of 2021, but it has now dropped more than 45% from its highs last fall. Even though the specter of a recession might not threaten the strong demand for Tesla’s vehicles among loyal customers, Tesla still has to deal with a lot of uncertainty along with a still-high valuation by traditional metrics.
Is the semiconductor boom ending?
ASML Holding (ASML -5.04%) saw even bigger declines than Tesla on Tuesday morning, falling almost 7%. The maker of semiconductor fabrication equipment has now seen its stock lose more than half its value since last summer, and many seem to fear that the best of times for the chipmakers might already be over.
By all accounts, current semiconductor demand remains high. Shortages of chips for key applications like automobiles have restrained production, leading to backlogs of vehicles simply needing chipsets in order to be ready for delivery. Several other industries have also had production curtailed because of a lack of semiconductor chips.
Yet several trends are turning into headwinds for the semiconductor industry. More workers are returning to offices and therefore no longer need computing equipment to work from home. Rising inflation is forcing consumers to reassess buying decisions, with discretionary items like consumer electronics potentially being where budget cutbacks will delay purchases. If chipmakers end up with a glut of supply, then they won’t necessarily be in a rush to order new fabrication equipment from ASML.
Tesla is always in the spotlight, but semiconductor stocks more broadly could have an even bigger negative impact on the Nasdaq. ASML’s stock could be just the tip of the iceberg if chipmakers start to see meaningful drops in demand in the months to come.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism