Musk’s $100m presidential gamble pays off big for Tesla

Tesla’s rocketing share price indicates investors expect incoming president to return the favour

Tesla chief Elon Musk says he “never asked” the president-elect “for any favours, nor has he offered me any” in return for support for his presidential campaign. Photographer: Allison Robbert/AFP/Bloomberg
Tesla chief Elon Musk says he “never asked” the president-elect “for any favours, nor has he offered me any” in return for support for his presidential campaign. Photographer: Allison Robbert/AFP/Bloomberg

Elon Musk spent more than $100 million (€94.6 million) helping Donald Trump get elected – a small price to pay, given Tesla’s recent share price surge.

The electric car giant became a trillion-dollar stock following Trump’s victory, soaring 50 per cent in a week before pulling back as traders took profits.

Musk, who averaged more than 100 tweets a day on X/Twitter in the month leading up to the election, says he “never asked” the US president-elect “for any favours, nor has he offered me any”, but Tesla’s rocketing share price indicates investors expect Trump to return the favour.

Is too much optimism baked into Tesla shares? Not according to Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas, who suggests shares could rally a further 50 per cent.

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The fact that Tesla earns 80 per cent of its revenue from car sales means it often misses out on the excitement around AI, data centres, renewable energy, and robotics, says Jonas.

Really? Most carmakers trade at low valuation multiples, but Tesla is valued at more than 100 times estimated earnings. Far from being valued as just another car company, the share price suggests an awful lot of excitement about AI, robotics and so on is already priced in.

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Proinsias O'Mahony

Proinsias O'Mahony

Proinsias O’Mahony, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes the weekly Stocktake column