Tesla has been over inflated for years now. At one point (for quite a long time) it was worth more than every other major auto maker combined despite having pitiful profits relative to Toyota or many of the other players.
That particular situation looks like it may be due to how the process worked and government comments that the money would be running out earlier than planned.
Apparently dealers weren't required to submit at the time of sale, but on a monthly or quarterly basis instead, which is a very common timeline for businesses to handle things like that. But after the announcement of the program ending early, Tesla submitted everything they had pending immediately, which makes complete sense.
I have not done a lot of research on this particular topic, and the little I have done may not have been accurate sources, but that situation would line up without needing to grasp at any crazy theories.
Many of them are immigrants who got in with work visas so they can't easily change jobs. Elon knows this and exploits the situation. It's all just terrible.
It seems it'll sink on to 252 the moment the markets open, if I understand Yahoo finance correctly.
I don't really understand what the pre-market value is, but it seems to mean the value keeps on fluctuating even after the markets close and no stocks formally trade hands. And it looks like Tesla is going to have yet another rough day.
I don't feel bad for any of the idiots losing their money on this. They all had plenty of time to get out - if they sold after the CEO made a nazi salute they would pretty much get out on top. Whoever is a shareholder deserves anything coming for them. (Sadly that includes myself, indirectly through the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. Bummer. Oh well, I had it coming.)
Edit: Half an hour after the markets open the stock has dropped to ~241. Lol.
Sure, but entire fortunes were lost shorting Tesla in the past as well. It has been wildly overvalued for ages and it still is ridiculously overvalued, but I personally wouldn't bet on it.