Tesla tumbles after tweet from Musk account saying stock too high

(Reuters) – Shares of Tesla Inc tumbled 12{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} on Friday following a tweet from Chief Executive Elon Musk’s Twitter account that the electric car maker’s recently high-flying stock is overly expensive.

The tweet was one of several unusual messages, including ones quoting parts of the U.S. national anthem and that he would sell almost all his physical possessions, raising questions about whether Musk’s account was compromised.

“Tesla stock price is too high,” Musk’s Twitter account tweeted. Reuters could not immediately verify whether Musk sent the tweet.

Tesla and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether Musk’s account had been hacked.

A year ago, Musk settled a dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his use of Twitter, agreeing to submit his public statements about Tesla’s finances and other topics to vetting by the company’s legal counsel.

Tesla’s stock has surged in recent weeks, but is down since Wednesday when the company reported an unexpected quarterly profit, despite manufacturing interruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Including Friday’s drop, the shares remain up over 40{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} from May 1, 2019.

Musk’s latest tweets follow others by the billionaire this week, as well as comments on Tesla’s quarterly conference call on Wednesday, criticizing the California government’s stay-at-home orders, which have forced him to shut Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California.