Tesla is falling after firing hundreds of workers (TSLA)

Tesla Factory

Tesla was down as much as 1.91% on the first day of trading since announcing the firing of about 400 people.

A Tesla spokesperson told Business Insider on Friday evening that it would be firing the employees after routine performance reviews. The company plans to refill some of the now-open positions.

Shares of Tesla were down close to 2% early on Monday, but have settled around 1.43% lower at $350.48.

The firings were wide-ranging, and are said to have included managers. Tesla has said it is still growing its workforce worldwide.

The firings came in the middle of the company's production ramp-up of the Model 3. The first ever mass-marketed car from Tesla is being restricted by "production bottlenecks," according to CEO Elon Musk. Welding the steel parts of the car is proving difficult for the company, as it is used to building cars out of aluminum.

The company has about 450,000 preorders of its Model 3 vehicles, but it only produced 260 Model 3s in the third quarter. It had hoped to be producing 1,500 a month by September and is well behind that target.

Tesla is up 63.34% this year despite the production delays.