Tesla stock (TSLA) bounced back on Tuesday following its worst day in five years as CEO Elon Musk said the company would double down on US production.
“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,” Musk said at an afternoon event at the White House, where President Trump said he would purchase a Tesla EV.
Tesla shares rose to session highs following the event and closed up 3.8%.
As of 12:19:54 PM EDT. Market Open.
Trump, who said Tesla was a “great company,” said he hoped his purchase would help boost Tesla EV sales. Trump’s tariff policies, which have waxed and waned in intensity over the past few weeks, have the intended goal of boosting US manufacturing, the White House said. Earlier this month, Honda was reportedly planning to build its next-generation Civic in the US in partial response to tariffs.
Also boosting Tesla today, one of Wall Street’s biggest bulls said it was time to buy the stock.
“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,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note to clients late Monday night.
Jonas believes sentiment and the Tesla “narrative” tend to follow share price moves, potentially even more than the average stock: When the stock is moving up, Jonas says, the story is about Tesla’s AI initiatives and autonomous technology; when the stock is down, it’s about lost sales, brand degradation, and Musk’s distractions.
The next year will be a volatile one, Jonas predicted, with Morgan Stanley’s bear case ($200) and bull case ($800) tested this year.
Jonas believes upside catalysts like the “unveil” of robotaxi testing this year in Austin, new federal rules on autonomous vehicle regulation, an update on Optimus robots, and auto-related technological “milestones” will come this year.
Jonas and Morgan Stanley have a “Top Pick” rating on Tesla stock, with a $430 price target.
Late Monday night, Trump waded into the Tesla discussion, with Trump claiming leftist agitators were behind protests at Tesla showrooms and were “illegally and collusively” trying to boycott the company.
Musk, as head of the White House’s controversial DOGE initiative, has seen his standing slide among Americans, while protests have gained steam at Tesla showrooms in the US. In addition to sliding sales in Europe and China, the company is experiencing negative sentiment from current US Tesla owners, some of whom are selling their EVs.
