In the weeks bracketing Donald Trump's victory on Nov. 5, Tesla's stock enjoyed one of the most explosive rides in the annals of publicly traded equities, gaining over 50% and almost half a trillion dollars in valuation in the span of just over a month. That surge reversed four years of poor performance for Tesla's shares as investors soured on the EV maker's weakening fundamentals and CEO Elon Musk's serial promises of fully self-driving cars and an inexpensive mass-market model that proved an ever-receding horizon.
Then in October, Musk recharged his stock via a fresh pledge to start producing the long-awaited Tesla Cybercab by mid-2025. And investors reckoned that Musk's newfound, headline-grabbing status as the highest-profile member of the Trump economic team in heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as well as his bromance with his boss, would somehow restore the buzz around Tesla. Musk appeared to be performing a never-before-seen coup in taming the federal bureaucracy. His early wins at the White House reminded folks and funds of the supposedly enduring Musk magic, and renewed belief in his epic vision for the EV giant.
