Tesla bankrupt? Elon Musk cracks jokes after worst month in 7 years

Elon Musk laughed off Tesla Inc.’s worst month in seven years Sunday, posting a series of April Fools’ Day tweets saying the electric-car company had gone bankrupt.

Tesla Goes Bankrupt
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018

There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018

Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.
This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point?
Happy New Month! pic.twitter.com/YcouvFz6Y1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018

“We are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can’t believe it,” Musk said. “There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one).”

Also see:It’s April Fools’ Week this year, apparently

Musk ended with: “This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what’s the point? Happy New Month!”

The bankruptcy joke was apparently in response to notorious Tesla bear John Thompson of Vilas Capital Management, who predicted last week that Tesla would be bankrupt within four months if it didn’t turn things around quickly.

Read:Tesla is just months from a total collapse, says hedge-fund manager

Jokes aside, Musk certainly hopes for a happier new month. In March, Tesla shares TSLA, +3.24% plunged 22%, their worst monthly performance since December 2018. After long outperforming the S&P 500 SPX, +1.38% , Tesla is now down 4% over the past 12 months, compared to the S&P’s 12% gain.

Last week, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla stock on concerns of Model S production. Later in the week, Deutsche Bank analysts predicted Tesla would miss first-quarter production goals for the Model S, and Tesla bull Romit Shah, an Instinet analyst, lowered his target price on Tesla shares from $500 to $420 on production concerns.

Tesla also announced the recall of 123,000 older-model Model S cars, due to a the potential for a steering-wheel bolt to corrode.

The company has also been hurt by new concerns over driverless-car technology, after an Uber Technology Inc. autonomous car fatally struck a pedestrian in Arizona last month, and amid the possibility that Tesla’s Autopilot technology was involved in a fatal freeway crash in California. Tesla admitted Friday that Autopilot was engaged at the time of the March 23 crash, and the San Jose Mercury News reported last week that the victim had previously complained to Tesla that Autopilot kept veering his Model X toward the freeway barrier that he eventually fatally crashed into. The NTSB is investigating that crash.

Tesla is expected to announce first-quarter deliveries this week.

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