Tesla (TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday said the EV giant is spending half a billion dollars to build out its supercharger stations this year, even as the Tesla head recently dismissed the company’s entire supercharger team. TSLA shares edged lower early Friday.

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Musk took to the social media platform X early Friday claiming that Tesla will spend more than $500 million to expand its supercharger network and “create thousands” of new chargers in 2024.

“That’s just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher,” Musk said.

In the first quarter, Tesla supercharger stations totaled 6,249, up 26% vs. Q1 2023. Compared to Q4, supercharger stations grew 5%, adding 297. Meanwhile, supercharger connectors increased 27% to 57,579 in Q1, with 2,687 additional connectors compared to the fourth quarter.

The Tesla head’s comments Friday also come as Bloomberg reported Thursday that U.K. energy giant BP (BP) was “aggressively looking to acquire real estate” to build out its EV charging network. BP added that there was a “heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement,” referring to recent Tesla layoffs.

Musk recently dismissed Rebecca Tinucci, senior director of Tesla’s supercharger efforts, and Daniel Ho, head of the new vehicles program. The Tesla CEO also reportedly cut teams under Tinucci and Ho along with laying off its public policy employees and the entire staff working on Tesla superchargers.

Musk decided in April to lay off more than 10% of Tesla’s global workforce, an effort to prepare for the “next phase of growth.” Drew Baglino, who served as senior vice president of powertrain and energy, and Rohan Patel, vice president of public policy and business development, both departed Tesla around the time of those cuts.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA shares dropped 0.7% to 170.70 during market trade on Friday. The stock fell 1.6% to 171.97 on Thursday and is down more than 5% for the week.

Tesla stock jumped 7.7% last week to 181.19 after soaring 14.4% in the prior week. Tesla stock advanced 15.3% to 194.05 last Monday, making a decisive move above a key resistance level after reports indicated that regulators in China tentatively approved the introduction of FSD.

Since Tesla reported first quarter earnings and revenue on April 23, Tesla has gained about 20%. Tesla stock hit a 52-week low of 138.80 on April 22. Shares are still down 30% in 2024 as of May 9.

After rallying following Q1 earnings, Tesla stock advanced past resistance at its 10-week moving average, according to MarketSurge analysis. Tesla struggled to retake this level for much of 2024.

Tesla stock ranks eighth in the 35-member IBD Auto Manufacturers industry group. The stock has a weak 36 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Tesla stock also has a 16 Relative Strength Rating and a 63 EPS Rating.

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