Tesla shares (TSLA) crashed 11% on Dec. 27, sending them to their lowest close since August 2020. Barrons reported that Tesla is no longer among the top 10 greatest-cap U.S. companies. The adverse situation exacerbated the latest in a 7-day losing streak – already Tesla’s longest since 2018.

So what was the essence of bad news that undermined one of the most admired stocks in the past? First. A plan to temporarily halt production at its China factory. News of reduced output in Shanghai came on the heels of last week’s report that Tesla was offering U.S. consumers a $7,500 discount to take delivery of its two highest-volume models before year-end – hinting for the EV-maker being behind its self-proclaimed car deliveries goal.

Another reason for investors' skepticism stemmed from the current weather conditions in the U.S.’s East Coast where EV cars showed, once again, their extreme uselessness in these circumstances. As we know by now, the brutal winter conditions buried many East Coast communities in snow, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes, shuttered highways, snarled holiday travel, forced hundreds of rescues and prompted emergency declarations. Western New York is still digging out from a punishing holiday blizzard that has taken nearly 30 lives. Among reliable vehicles are apparently only combustion engine powered ones, sometimes, even limited to those equipped with diesel engines.

But Tesla's problems seem to run deeper than signs of slowing demand. As 2022 ends, Tesla has seen 69% of its value vanish amid Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and related online antics – and the investor jitters that resulted.

Tesla's woes aren't a flash in the pan. The company's stock has plummeted nearly 70% this year, lopping more than $800 billion off the company's valuation by investors. It had a market cap of $1.24 trillion at the start of the year, and is hovering around $345 billion today.

Nevertheless, recent reports showed that some South Korean retail investors have bought a net $2.8 billion worth of Tesla stock amid the electric-vehicle maker’s worst slump on record. Such noble examples show that Tesla still enjoys many fans and devoted stockholders, who won’t let its shares go into tailspin. At least, not at this time.