Tesla stock has reacted after Donald Trump and Elon Musk turned the White House lawn into a 'Tesla showroom' yesterday.
Full-time President of the United States, part-time Tesla salesman, it seems Donald Trump is trying to do it all. While the POTUS once said that electric vehicle owners can 'rot in hell', it was all smiles as President Trump sat behind the wheel of his new red Tesla Model S in front of the White House. Turning his office into its very own Tesla showroom, Trump stood firmly by Tesla's side and defended the electric vehicle brand over recent controversy.
Alongside some vowing to boycott Tesla, others have taken it further by damaging vehicles and electric chargers, while police in Oregon confirmed a dealership was damaged by gunfire during a recent anti-Tesla protest.
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It's true that the President once owned a Tesla Roadster, but in the aftermath of rolling back the Biden administration's EV plans, you might not think he's Tesla's No. 1 fan. Of course, the closeness of Elon Musk to the White House and the endorsement of Trump suggest it's in everyone's interest to try and keep Tesla's wheels greased.
The President has said those who are targeting Tesla will be dealt with as 'domestic terrorists', and although Tesla stocks have taken a recent beating, it seems Trump's sales pitch is working.
March 10 saw Tesla wipe $127 billion off its worth in a one-day 'market bloodbath' - marking its worst recordings since 2020. In general, Tesla stocks are down 50% since December 2024. Since peaking on December 17, Tesla has recorded seven straight weeks of losses, knocked around $800 billion from its market cap, and lost its trillion-dollar status.
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Considering Trump entered the White House on January 20 and Musk has cemented himself as a key member of his counsel, it feels like more than a bit of a coincidence that Tesla stocks have started to tumble during this period.
There's been some bounce back, with TSLA stocks rising by 3.79% in the past 24 hours.
Speaking at the White House event, Musk was looking at the future of Tesla and cheered: "As a function of the great policies of President Trump and his administration, and as an act of faith in America, Tesla is going to double vehicle output in the United States within the next two years."
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Could this be the start of Tesla's return to form? Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas left a note to clients, telling potential investors now's the time to buy: "Tesla shares have fallen 50% from the Dec 17th highs (and down 45% YTD) on poor sales data, negative brand sentiment, and market de-grossing. We see the pullback as a buying opportunity for an embodied AI compounder."
Jonas points to upcoming 'milestones' like the robotaxi testing in Austin, an update on Tesla's Optimus robots, and new federal rules on regulating autonomous vehicles as key deciders for Tesla stock.
Even though the stocks are back on the incline, Wedbush Securities financial analyst Dan Ives has warned that associating Tesla with the Trump administration could be bad for the brand in the long run.
Trump has suggested that a Tesla boycott is 'illegal', although that's not actually the case. Either way, the President and Mr. Musk are doing everything in their power to ‘make Tesla great again’.