Musk reportedly tells Tesla employees: 'Don't be too bothered by stock market craziness.'

That was Tesla's chief executive officer Elon Musk addressing employees in an email on Wednesday, according to Reuters, which saw a copy. In the message he also encouraged them to give one last big push on deliveries for quarter's end.

"Please go all out for the next few days and volunteer to help deliver if at all possible. It will make a real difference!" he reportedly said.

Musk's apparent attempt to motivate workers comes as shares of the once stock-market darling (TSLA) head for their worst-ever annual performance, with a loss of nearly 70%. That's also as the overall stock market and high-profile tech names have struggled in a year that has brought war, recession worries and rising interest rates.

The email also came as shares of Tesla broke a seven-straight losing streak on Wednesday, the longest in more than four years.

Investors have sold Tesla partly due to concerns over a production pause in China and a perception that Musk has let his $44 billion takeover of Twitter early this year interfere with his running of the electric-car company.

There were some hopes that the stock may have reached a bottom of sorts, with shares up another 2.9% in premarket trading on Thursday.

-Barbara Kollmeyer

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-29-22 0632ET

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