Connect with us
tesla-tsla-stock-elon-musk-twitter-deal tesla-tsla-stock-elon-musk-twitter-deal

Investor's Corner

Tesla investors get a “window of opportunity” amid Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover

Published

on

On Monday, November 14, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock closed at $190.95, 2.56% down compared to the previous close at $195.97. However, Morgan Stanley believes the decline in TSLA’s share price over the past few weeks may not be all bad for Tesla investors.

Tesla stock has been dropping lately. Some investors and financial experts are pinning Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover as the cause of TSLA’s recent decrease. 

Last Wednesday, Tesla shares dropped significantly, closing at $177.59, the lowest since November 2020. At the time, Elon Musk disclosed the sale of about $4 billion worth of TSLA stock. In an all-hands meeting with Twitter the following day, Musk explained that he sold Tesla shares to “save” Twitter. 

Throughout his quest to take over Twitter, Elon Musk has offloaded TSLA shares multiple times this year. In April, He sold about $8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares, and then another $6.9 billion shares in August. 

Morgan Stanley’s Tesla Take

Morgan Stanley has a $150 bear case for Tesla. However, the investment bank believes Tesla’s recent price drop is a “window of opportunity opening for prospective Tesla investors.” Morgan Stanley thinks Tesla sentiment and decelerating EV demand might challenge its bear case before the end of 2022.

Advertisement

Tesla recently cut its prices in China. Morgan Stanley predicts that the company would also slash car prices in Germany as Giga Berlin reaches 5,000 vehicle production per week. It also expects Tesla to cut prices in the United States in the first half of 2023. The price cuts may be an opportunity for prospective Tesla customers.

Twitter and Tesla

In a recent note to investors, Morgan Stanley (MS) analyst Adam Jonas wrote that investors are concerned about the effects “consumer sentiment” might have on Tesla’s business in the near term. Jonas wrote that consumer sentiments could materialize in several areas, namely:

  • Consumer sentiment/demand.
  • Commercial partnerships.
  • Government relationships and support.
  • Investor sentiment and capital markets participation

“Controversy creates uncertainty…In our opinion, one of the main drivers of Tesla shares to ‘tera-cap’ status in recent years was the ability for investors to confidently model the economic outlook for the company’s core EV and energy storage businesses supported by a favorable economic backdrop. In recent weeks, this confidence has been tested, and we believe will continue to be tested through year-end,” wrote Jonas.

Twitter Controversy

Twitter has become a controversial topic in recent weeks. Some Tesla investors have reservations about how Musk plans to monetize the platform and use it as a space for free speech

Consumer and Investor Sentiment

MS believes some customers and investors might want to distance themselves from any Twitter controversy. Elon Musk’s involvement in Twitter has led some to question their ties to Tesla, although the two companies are entirely separate. 

Morgan Stanley believes that Tesla still needs support from investors to surpass its current market cap. As of writing, Tesla’s market cap stands at $602.97 billion.

Commercial Partnerships

Tesla prides itself as a self-reliant, vertically integrated company. But it still relies on commercial partnerships with companies that might want to distance themselves from controversy. 

Advertisement

Although, usually, association with Tesla has proven beneficial to other companies. For instance, mining companies who have struck deals with Tesla often also strike deals with other automakers.

Government Support

Elon Musk’s recent activity on Twitter and changes to the platform have also created some tension between the Tesla CEO and some political leaders in the United States. 

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden commented that Musk’s relationships with other nations needed observation. Musk’s ties to other countries are heavily related to Tesla’s operations, considering the company has gigafactories in China and Germany. 

Musk’s ties to other nations and his political opinions on Twitter have contributed to the controversy surrounding Musk, the platform, and, in extension, Tesla.

Disclosure: I am long TSLA.

Advertisement

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com or reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Tesla Board Chair slams Wall Street Journal over alleged CEO search report

Denholm’s comments were posted by Tesla on its official account on social media platform X.

Published

on

robyn-m-denholm-tesla
CeBIT Australia, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm has issued a stern correction to The Wall Street Journal after the publication posted a report alleging that the electric vehicle maker’s Board of Directors opened a search for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk.

Denholm’s comments were posted by Tesla on its official account on social media platform X. 

The WSJ’s Allegations

Citing people reportedly familiar with the discussions, the WSJ alleged that Tesla Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Elon Musk’s successor. The publication also alleged that tensions had been mounting at Tesla due to the company’s dropping sales and profits, as well as the time Musk has been spending with DOGE.

The publication also alleged that Elon Musk had met with the Tesla Board about the matter, and that members told the CEO that he needed to spend more time on Tesla. Musk was reportedly instructed to state his intentions publicly as well. The CEO did not push back against the Board, the WSJ claimed. 

Elon Musk did announce that he is stepping back from his day-to-day role at the Department of Government Efficiency during the Tesla Q1 2025 earnings call. Musk’s announcement was embraced by Tesla investors and analysts, many of whom felt that the CEO’s renewed focus on the EV maker could push the company to greater heights. 

Advertisement

Tesla and Musk’s Response

In response to The Wall Street Journal’s report, Tesla’s official account on X shared a comment from its Board Chair. In her comment, Denham noted that the WSJ‘s report was “absolutely false.” She also highlighted that Tesla had communicated this fact to the publication before the report was published, but the Journal ran the story anyway.

“Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company. This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead,” Denholm stated.

Elon Musk himself commented on the matter, stating that the publication showed an “extremely bad breach of ethics” since the report did not even include the Tesla Board of Directors’ denial of the allegations. “It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!” Musk wrote in a post on X.

Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

Tesla Board member and Airbnb co-founder loads up on TSLA ahead of robotaxi launch

Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a nod of appreciation for the Tesla Board member’s purchase.

Published

on

(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla Board member and Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia has loaded up on TSLA stock (NASDAQ:TSLA). The Board member’s purchase comes just over a month before Tesla is expected to launch an initial robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a nod of appreciation for the Tesla Board member in a post on social media.

The TSLA Purchase

As could be seen in a Form 4 submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, Gebbia purchased about $1.02 million worth of TSLA stock. This was comprised of 4,000 TSLA shares at an average price of $256.308 per share.

Interestingly enough, Gebbia’s purchase represents the first time an insider has purchased TSLA stock in about five years. CEO Elon Musk, in response to a post on social media platform X about the Tesla Board member’s TSLA purchase, gave a nod of appreciation for Gebbia. “Joe rocks,” Musk wrote in his post on X.

Gebbia has served on Tesla’s Board as an independent director since 2022, and he is also a known friend of Elon Musk. He even joined the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to help the government optimize its processes.

Advertisement

Just a Few Weeks Before Robotaxi

The timing of Gebbia’s TSLA stock purchase is quite interesting as the company is expected to launch a dedicated roboatxi service this June in Austin. A recent report from Insider, citing sources reportedly familiar with the matter, claimed that Tesla currently has 300 test operators driving robotaxis around Austin city streets. The publication’s sources also noted that Tesla has an internal deadline of June 1 for the robotaxi service’s rollout, but even a launch near the end of the month would be impressive.

During the Q1 2025 earnings call, Elon Musk explained that the robotaxi service that would be launched in June will feature autonomous rides in Model Y units. He also noted that the robotaxi service would see an expansion to other cities by the end of 2025. “The Teslas that will be fully autonomous in June in Austin are probably Model Ys. So, that is currently on track to be able to do paid rides fully autonomously in Austin in June and then to be in many other cities in the US by the end of this year,” Musk stated. 

Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

Tesla hints at ‘Model 2’ & next-gen EV designs

Tesla’s Q1 2025 update confirms new models this year, with production tied to existing factory lines. Could it be time for the Model 2 debut?

Published

on

(Credit: Tesla)

During its Q1 2025 earnings call, Tesla executives hinted at the much-rumored “Model 2” and other next-gen EV designs.

Tesla slightly addressed whether or not it will be pushing forward with the debut of new models later this year in its latest earnings call. The company’s product development executive, Lars Moravy, shared some details about Tesla’s design process and the upcoming affordable models.

“We’re still planning to release models this year. As with all launches, we’re working through, like, the last minute issues that pop up. We’re knocking them down one by one. At this point, I would say that the ramp might be a little slower than we had hoped initially…But there’s nothing that’s blocking us from starting production within the next, within the timeline laid out in the opening remarks.

“And I will say it’s important to emphasize that, as we’ve said all along, the full utilization of our factories is the primary goal for these new products. And so the flexibility of what we can do within the form factor and, you know, the design of it is really limited to what we can do on our existing lines rather than building new ones. But we’ve been targeting the low cost of ownership. Monthly payment is the biggest differentiator for our vehicles, and that’s why we’re focused on bringing these new models with the, you know, the lowest price, to the market, within the constraints I just highlighted.”

Advertisement

 

In January, Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja teased several new product introductions for this year. There is at least one product that most Tesla supporters and investors are hoping to see: the company’s affordable vehicles, which have been dubbed by the EV community as the “Model 2” or “Model Q.”

Before Tesla’s Robotaxi event last year, many speculated that the company would also unveil its affordable next-gen vehicle. Gene Munster from Deepwater had expected Tesla to release a stripped-down version of the Model 3 as its affordable vehicle during the Robotaxi event. In the end, Tesla unveiled its Robotaxi vehicle and its Robovan design.

It’s been a while since the Robotaxi event, and Tesla has kept mum about its affordable vehicle. Considering its Q1 2025 performance, TSLA investors look forward to catalysts that could boost the stock.

The “Model 2” has been labeled a potential catalyst for Tesla. As such, TSLA investors and supporters have been itching for news about the new affordable vehicle. The main questions surrounding the “Model 2” revolve around its design and price. Based on Moravy’s statement, the “Model 2’s” design will heavily depend on Tesla’s current assembly lines and supply chain structures.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending