Tesla shares drop after its big Model S recall and more questions about Autopilot

Tesla shares are plunging after the company announced a large recall and revealed more details about a fatal Model X crash last month.

The company on Thursday announced a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S vehicles because of an issue with a power steering component.

Tesla then revealed on Friday that the Model X vehicle involved in a fatal crash last month had its Autopilot system activated.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the government agency investigating the crash, said on Sunday it was "unhappy" that Tesla made public information about the incident.

Tesla shares are down 4 percent Monday. The stock pared its losses after Jalopnik reported on an internal email by CEO Elon Musk, which said the company passed the 2,000 vehicles manufactured per week rate for the Model 3.

Tesla said in its fourth-quarter letter to investors that it will produce 2,500 Model 3 cars per week by the end of its first-quarter.

The stock has dropped 21 percent in the past one month through the end of last week versus the S&P 500's 2 percent decline in the same time period.

Jefferies on Monday raised its rating on Tesla shares to hold from underperform, predicting the company will soon act to "restore [its] credibility." But the the upgrade did not seem to help the shares in the premarket session.

Tesla typically reports its production and delivery data in the days after the end of each quarter, which points to a release of its first-quarter numbers this week.