Tesla hits $1tn market value on the back of Trump’s re-election
Tesla Inc. has soared to a $1 trillion market valuation, fueled by expectations that President-elect Donald Trump’s re-election will lead to policies favorable to CEO Elon Musk’s ambitious goals for the electric carmaker. Tesla’s stock rose more than 6% on Friday, reaching a high of $315.56, which analysts describe as a response to Musk’s influential role in Trump’s campaign and the possibility of supportive regulatory shifts.
If Musk had any reservations about purchasing X (formerly Twitter) at an inflated price, they certainly don’t exist now seeing how the platform has facilitated Trump’s march back to the White House. The social media site has undergone a rightwing shift under Musk’s ownership that saw the reinstatement of Trump’s account and the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Trump even acknowledged Musk in his victory speech on Wednesday saying, “We have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them.” The president-elect didn’t mention Tesla, but he acknowledged SpaceX’s current milestone of safely landing a rocket and the company's effort to restore connectivity to the flood-hit North Carolina.
Sources indicate that Musk could use his influence to encourage favorable policies for Tesla’s development of autonomous driving technology, including pushing the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to avoid enforcement actions against Tesla’s driver-assistance systems. Additionally, with Trump’s backing, Musk is expected to advocate for fast-tracked approval of Tesla’s self-driving technology, a project that has faced technical and regulatory delays.
"Tesla and Elon Musk are among the clear beneficiaries of Trump’s victory, as it may help expedite regulatory approval of autonomous vehicle technology," commented Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. The market’s reaction signals investor belief that Tesla’s path to full autonomy and expanded U.S. market dominance could be smoother with Trump’s administration.
Tesla is the world’s most valuable automaker, far outpacing competitors like Japan’s Toyota and China’s BYD whose market capitalization currently stands at $226.49 billion and $115.74 billion respectively.
