Tesla CEO Elon Musk held an all-hands meeting last week, which helped reassure both employees and investors, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. Despite being down 30% since the start of the year, Tesla stock rebounded Monday as Musk demonstrated he is “back in charge,” Ives said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is jumping back into action at Tesla and investors are taking notice.
Tesla’s stock is down more than 30% year to date, but its fortune reversed this week as Musk refocused his attention on the lagging EV maker. The company’s stock shot up 12% on Monday and closed at $278.39, marking its best day since the November presidential election. As of Tuesday afternoon, Tesla stock was trading up 2.8% at $286.
The stock surge comes after Musk held a rare all-hands meeting with Tesla employees last week, in which he told employees not to sell their shares and promised that everything would work out.
“What I’m here to tell you is that the future is incredibly bright and exciting,” Musk said, “and we’re going to do things that no one I think has even dreamed of.”
With Musk squarely back at the helm, Wedbush analyst and Tesla bull Dan Ives said investors are changing their tone on Tesla.
“Musk stepped up last week with the all-hands meeting, and that sent a much needed positive signal to employees and investors,” Ives told Fortune. “The stock was way oversold and is bouncing as Musk is back in charge and trying to balance DOGE and Tesla.”
Following the all-hands meeting, which was live streamed, Wedbush analysts led by Ives praised the move, and said they expect Musk to take a “small step back from DOGE” over the coming months to focus on Tesla.
As a leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has orchestrated thousands of layoffs and millions of dollars in cuts to try to streamline the federal budget. The White House claimed in February, however, Musk wasn’t in charge of the cost-cutting agency, nor was an employee of it. Still, Musk acknowledged in an interview earlier this month he was balancing his business and government obligations “with great difficulty.”
Last week, Ives called on Musk to rededicate himself to Tesla, and longtime Tesla investor Ross Gerber called for Musk to step up or allow the company to find a “suitable CEO” to run the company.
Apart from its lagging stock, Tesla has faced increased pressure from China’s BYD, which overtook Tesla Monday with annual sales of $107 billion, compared to Tesla’s $97.7 billion in annual revenue.
Moreover, Musk’s recent political involvement has led to an uptick in peaceful protests as well as vandalism targeting Tesla vehicles and showrooms. President Donald Trump has called people vandalizing Tesla property “terrorists,” and on Monday the FBI created a task force to investigate recent Tesla vandalism.
Ives previously cautioned against the brand damage which has been caused by Musk’s political moves, but he said support for the CEO seems to be building despite the disapproval.
“There is still a brand crisis tornado in motion, but we are seeing many flood Tesla dealerships rallying behind Musk with these protests building,” Ives told Fortune.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
