Hot metal spilling from a malfunctioning aluminum press burned three employees at the Tesla Motors factory in Fremont Wednesday, sending the workers to a hospital.

The incident, which happened shortly before noon, left the employees with moderate to serious burns, according to a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose. Two patients were taken to the hospital's burn unit, while the third was discharged Wednesday afternoon.

"Two (injuries) sound relatively minor, one more serious," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday in a brief statement about the hurt workers. He added that he would "visit them in the hospital today and will personally ensure that they receive the best possible care."

The factory builds Tesla's award-winning electric sedan, the Model S. Production has steadily increased since the luxury plug-in car hit the market last year, with the factory now making about 550 sedans per week.

The accident involved a low-pressure aluminum casting press that failed, according to Tesla.

The accident came at a difficult time for the Palo Alto automaker.

More for you News Investigation demanded into latest Tesla crash

The company's stock soared this summer on rising sales of the Model S, with the share price topping $193 in September. But it started sliding in October after two Model S sedans caught fire following traffic accidents. A third fire - which started after a Model S owner drove over a large, metal trailer hitch on a freeway - happened last week. Disgruntled shareholders sued, alleging the Model S has safety issues that Tesla has hidden from the public.

Many analysts consider the attention paid to the fires overblown, noting that all three erupted after serious accidents that would have severely damaged gasoline-burning cars. Despite the unfortunate timing, several analysts on Wednesday said they doubted the factory accident would have a lasting effect on Tesla.

"This is an industrial accident, and these things happen," said Craig Irwin of Wedbush Securities. "You feel terrible for the people involved, but I think their safety record is pretty solid at the plant."

Andrea James, who covers Tesla for the Dougherty & Co. investment bank, said an accident of the same severity would attract little public notice if it involved a larger, more established automaker.

"This is a company with hyper attention paid to it," she said. "I don't think there's a factory in America with a 100 percent safety record. A lot of factories post the number of days they've gone without an accident, and it sounds like at the Tesla factory, they start over again tomorrow at zero."