Cliff JudyAnother car fire in just over a month has analysts calling Tesla one of the hottest companies out there in more ways than one.
"Another Model S electric car has caught on fire. This is a picture of it posted on Twitter. It happened yesterday just outside of Nashville. The company says it was caused by a crash and was not spontaneous." (Via KTVU)
It marks the third Model S car fire since early October. This is video of the first blaze, and Tesla says all three fires followed accidents. (Via YouTube / Aj Gill)
Tesla stressed that point and immediately started damage control, with CEO Elon Musk telling ValueWalk:
"For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery than a large tank of highly flammable liquid."
The electric car fires haven't helped the company's incredible stock performances. (Via YouTube / MotorTrend)
Tesla's stock dipped to around $138 late Thursday morning, down more than $40 a share from just two days prior. (Via Yahoo!)
But some analysts say the fires alone aren't to blame for that steep drop.
"I think the car fire is a sideshow. The real story is this thing is down 25 percent since they reported on Tuesday afternoon, and that's because they under-delivered on the number of cars that they were actually able to ship." (Via MSNBC)
Keep in mind that this time last year, Tesla's stock stood at just $31.
So yeah, we'd take that ... as long as the cars — and the stock — don't go up in flames.
