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(CNN Business) --
Six months ago, Elon Musk said he would stop attending conference calls with investors unless he had "something important" to say.
And he should have stuck to that plan.
After not participating in Tesla's third-quarter call, he returned to Wednesday's conference call to discuss record fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. But his comments on this week's call spooked investors despite Tesla's strong financial results. Shares of Tesla had their worst day in months on Thursday, losing 11.6% and dragging the other electric vehicle stocks along with them.
Musk focused his comments on the fact that supply chain problems affected Tesla much less than other automakers.
Although Musk said the company was headed for "comfortably above 50% growth in 2022" and that the situation with chip shortages is "better than last year," he also noted that the supply chain problem "It is still an issue that could delay the expected launch of new vehicles this year.
He said plans for his Cybertruck, Tesla's first pickup, would be delayed until at least 2023, along with a new Roadster and semi-trailer truck.
And he added that he expects Tesla to be "ready to bring them into production, hopefully, next year. That's most likely."
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Musk's comments on electric cars put investors off
That's not what Tesla investors wanted to hear, especially as competition intensifies: EV truck maker Rivian is already building and selling its electric vehicle, which recently won Motor Trend Truck of the Year honors.
Ford is due to start building its F-150 Lightning electric vehicle in the spring and plans to produce 80,000 cars a year to meet large advance orders.
General Motors announced this week that it would start building an electric version of its Silverado and Sierra trucks in 2024.
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Some Wall Street analysts were frustrated by Musk's comments on the call. "There was no reason why I had to double down and yell 'supply chain' in a crowded theater," said Dan Ives, technical analyst at Wedbush Securities. "He served it on a silver platter. That's why stocks sold off. I'm convinced that if Musk hadn't been on the call, stocks probably would have gone up on Thursday," he added.
None of Musk's comments directly addressed the situation at other electric vehicle companies.
But all electric vehicle stocks fell sharply on Thursday.
Rivian plunged 10.5%, while shares in Lucid fell 14.1%, and US shares in Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio fell 6.8%.
Ives said Musk's comments sparked concerns that if an electric-car maker as big as Tesla faces problems, its smaller rivals may be suffering even more.
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Shares of Tesla are down 21% this year through Thursday's close, and have fallen below $1 trillion in market capitalization, a benchmark it reached late last year.
Even with the sell-off, which continued Friday, Tesla shares have more market value than the world's 10 biggest automakers combined.
That means Tesla has a valuation that many people think is unsustainable, making it more susceptible to sell-offs like Thursday's, especially at a time when broader US markets are already in correction territory.
"Investors wanted Musk's confidence," Ives said.
"Instead, they made him talk about the supply chain and robots."
Musk's comments on the call were a stark contrast to Apple CEO Tim Cook's performance on his call Thursday night.
Cook also had very strong results for the fourth quarter.
And, like just about every manufacturing company on the planet, it's dealing with supply issues.
But with Cook reassuring investors, Apple shares rose in Friday morning trading.
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