Tesla’s stock price rose in morning trade, regaining some of the ground it lost after an acrimonious online dispute between Elon Musk, CEO of the electric car maker, and President Trump.
Tesla shares closed down 14% on Thursday following the heated exchange, with Mr. Trump threatening to strip Musk’s companies of their government contracts. The stock was up $15.20, or more than 5%, to $299.90 as of 10:45 a.m. EST.
Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives said the spat unnerved Tesla investors, he remained optimistic the stock would rebound. “Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk for many reasons, and these two becoming friends again will be a huge relief for Tesla shares,” he wrote in a research note Friday.
Tension between Musk and Mr. Trump “does not change our firmly bullish view of the autonomous future looking ahead that we value at $1 trillion alone for Tesla,” Ives added, referring to Tesla’s push into robo-taxis and self-driving cars.
Musk’s net worth on Thursday plunged $34 billion because of the fall in Tesla shares, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In addition to Tesla, Musk owns The Boring Company, Neuralink, SpaceX, X (formerly known as Twitter) and xAI.
Tesla share prices have fallen 26% this year.
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