Tesla shares jumped more than 5% Friday before pulling back — a day after an all-out feud between CEO Elon Musk and President Trump tanked the stock and wiped out $152 billion in market value.
Investors were hopeful for signs that the two might reconcile after Tesla suffered its worst single-day drop in more than four years, though Trump said Friday he has no interest in speaking with his former top ally.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” Trump told ABC News when asked about the possibility that the pair would speak on a call.
Shares closed Friday at $295.14, up 3.7%. The stock is down 27% this year.
Musk, the world’s richest person, lost about $27 billion on Thursday as he taunted Trump, saying he wouldn’t have won the election without his help.
The president fired back by threatening to kill his companies’ government contracts.
Despite Thursday’s financial hit, the Tesla and SpaceX boss remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $395.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Tesla short sellers, meanwhile, reaped $4 billion in profits Thursday in one of their largest single-day gains ever, according to estimates from S3 Partners.
So far this year, investors have made $7 billion betting against the carmaker. Tesla is currently the second most shorted stock in the US by total value of the position.
“Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk for many reasons and these two becoming friends again will be a huge relief for Tesla shares,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note Friday morning.
Musk’s attacks on Thursday took aim at the Trump-backed spending bill that narrowly passed through the House and awaits Senate approval.
The tax package would end EV tax credits worth as much as $7,500 for buyers – threatening to dock Tesla’s annual profit by $1.2 billion, JPMorgan analysts said Thursday.
It would also impose a new annual $250 fee on EV drivers.
Meanwhile, the Senate recently moved to block California’s EV sales mandates, which could slice another $2 billion off Tesla’s sales, according to JPMorgan.
Those measures combined threaten to erase about half of the more than $6 billion in earnings before interest and taxes that Tesla is expected to report this year, analysts led by Ryan Brinkman wrote in a report last month.
Tesla sales have plummeted in major markets across Europe, allowing Chinese rival BYD to overtake Tesla in some countries.
The brand’s reputation has also taken a beating as protests broke out across the country – and some Tesla showrooms and vehicles were vandalized or set ablaze – as demonstrators decried Musk’s role in slashing government spending, including funds for the Department of Education and US Agency for International Development.
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