Tesla stock fell early Thursday as investors continued to weigh the risks and rewards associated with CEOElon Musk.
The electric-vehicle maker’s shares were down 2.3% in early trading at $352.25, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down about 0.9%.
Trading in Tesla stock has been wild lately. Coming into Thursday’s session, shares were up about 43% since the Nov. 5 election. But they were down about 15% since the Jan. 20 inauguration, and off about 25% from a record closing high of almost $480 set on Dec. 17.
It feels as if Washington, D.C. is dominating trading. Investors believe Musk’s close relationship with President Donald Trump will benefit the company, likely by helping enable self-driving cars on U.S. roads. At the same time, investors worry that Musk’s activity in the Trump administration will turn off his core market—Democratic car buyers looking to go green.
Focusing on politics might not be the best way for Tesla investors to spend time, according to one analyst.
Worrying too much about Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency “is off base,” wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a Wednesday report. His work shows car buyers are awaiting the launch of a lower-priced mass-market vehicle due out in the coming weeks. His focus is on that, as well as developments in Tesla’s self-driving technology. The company expects to launch a self-driving robotaxi service as soon as June.
Musk has always been able to balance his countless initiatives better than any other CEO we have seen,” added Ives. “The innovation and tech machine at Tesla is accelerating into an autonomous/robotics future despite growing skepticism around Musk’s DOGE balancing act.”
He believes Tesla is worth “$2 trillion, not including Optimus,” Tesla’s artificial-intelligence-trained humanoid robot it expects to sell in late 2025 or early 2026. Ives rates Tesla stock at Buy with a $550 price target.
That’s one of the highest target prices on the Street. The average analyst price target for Tesla stock is about $379, according to FactSet.
About 46% of analysts covering Tesla stock have Buy ratings. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%.
Eventually, investors’ attention will turn back to business milestones such as a new vehicle and, perhaps, even robots, debating what those opportunities are worth. Sill, it will be tough to take all the politics out of Tesla stock—for a while anyway.
