Tesla Shares Drop 5% After Cybertruck Blast Near Las Vegas Hotel Sparks Volatility Before Q4 Results

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) share prices fell 3.25% to £323.13 ($403.84) on 31st December 2024, a day before a Tesla Cybertruck burst into flames in front of the Las Vegas Trump Hotel entrance at approximately 8:40 am local time. The TSLA stock price fell by over 5.5% to £307.18 ($380.81) on 2nd January, 2025.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing the incident via its Joint Terrorism Task Force and is trying to determine if it was an act of terrorism.

Officials disclosed that the Cybertruck driver died during the blast while seven bystanders suffered minor injuries.

The Tesla stock has gained dramatically since Donald Trump was reelected in the November 2024 US elections. The incident occurred right before Tesla is expected to announce its Q4 results. The company forecasts marginal year-over-year delivery growth for 2024.

However, analysts think Tesla will miss its delivery target of 514,925 for the latest quarter due to weaker US and European demand. They predicted Tesla Q4 deliveries to be around 507,000 units, which would be a record number in itself.

Cybertruck Incident Occurs Hours After Massacre In New Orleans

While the Cybertruck blast victim's identity is yet to be ascertained, it took place hours after a 42-year-old US military vet, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, rammed a rented Ford F-150 Lightning EV pickup truck into a crowd on the famous Bourbon Street, New Orleans during New Year's Eve.

At least 15 people died, and many more were injured in the New Orleans incident, which is being probed as an act of terrorism.

It was later found that the F-150 and the Tesla Cybertruck were rented using the same Turo app. Turo officially stated that the trucks involved in both incidents were rented via its app service.

Meanwhile, President Biden stated that law enforcement is investigating any "possible connection" between the New Orleans and the Cybertruck blast. Video footage revealed remnants of gas canisters and firework-style mortars on the burnt-down Tesla vehicle.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Sheriff Kevin McMahill detailed that there aren't any signs of a connection between the two incidents, but they are "not ruling anything out yet."

Elon Musk Helps Authorities With Critical Vehicle Information

Sheriff McMahill stated that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is directly engaging with case investigators and sharing critical vehicle data, which has been helpful to authorities. The Tesla Senior team is also investigating the case.

Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards."

He also opined that the blast was due to "very large fireworks and or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and unrelated to the vehicle itself," as all vehicle telemetry was "positive" when the incident occurred.

Officials are trying to uncover a potential connection between the use of a Cybertruck for the explosion at the Trump Las Vegas hotel, given Musk's strengthening ties with the President-elect and growing influence in the political sphere.

"It's a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it's the Trump Tower. So there's obviously things to be concerned about there, and that's something we continue to look at," McMahill added.

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