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Takeaways
- The shares of this EV maker rose Friday, though they still fell for the ninth consecutive week.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk told staff to "hang on to your stock" at an all-hands meeting Thursday night.
- Musk at the all-hands argued it's difficult for Wall Street to understand the value of Tesla's growth potential with advances in technology.
Tesla (TSLA), a stock owned by Elon Musk, surged in value Friday afternoon. Musk had told his employees the day before to “hang on.”
The shares fell for the 9th consecutive week, despite an increase of over 5% during Friday’s session. Tesla has had an uneasy few months. Its shares have lost about half their value from a record high reached in December, while also facing concerns about declining sales, tariffs and a backlash against CEO Musk’s politics.
Musk told Tesla staff at a Thursday all-hands that they should “hang onto your stock.” He argued that Wall Street doesn’t fully understand its growth potential, tied to advancements in autonomous driving, and the company’s work on the Optimus humanoid robotic, which Musk previously said could represent a greater source of Tesla’s revenue than their vehicles.
"Tesla stock goes up and it goes down, but actually it's still the same company," Musk said. "It's just people's perception of the future."
Wedbush analyst called the event “a major and much needed step ahead” after Musk had been asked to reassure the investors after the recent slide in the stock. “We applaud Musk for reading the room and showing important handholding at this key moment for employees and investors,” said they.
Wedbush analysts are among the most bullish about Tesla and have a price target of $550 for the stock. This is well above the average of $355 set by Visible Alpha.
Morgan Stanley analysts, who cut their target to $410 from $430 Thursday, told clients Tesla's decline in deliveries is "not particularly narrative changing," and that Tesla remains a "top pick," citing its potential as a "highly diversified play on AI and robotics."
UPDATE—March 21, 2025: This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent share price values.
