How Tesla has fared since Elon Musk took over X

TheStreet's J.D. Durkin dives into how Tesla's stock has done since Elon Musk acquired X.

Transcript

00:00 Ever since Elon Musk purchased Twitter last year, Wall Street and the world has wondered

00:05 how well the globe's wealthiest person could balance yet another business.

00:10 After all, he was adding a social media giant to a portfolio that already included names

00:14 like SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, each one already at a scale that typically

00:20 demands its own devoted CEO.

00:23 And in case all that weren't enough, Musk also has, of course, Tesla, the only publicly

00:28 traded company under his umbrella of brands listed on the NASDAQ in 2010.

00:33 Elon Musk purchased Twitter on October 27, 2022, quickly appointing himself the "chief

00:40 twit" in the process.

00:42 At the time, many Tesla bulls warned that Elon Musk would be too distracted to focus

00:47 on his revolutionary EV car maker.

00:50 Investors are frustrated.

00:51 We're obviously frustrated.

00:52 We've talked about it because they have fundamental issues that they're dealing with.

00:58 You see them sort of coming off some of the growth, hyper growth we've seen.

01:02 Daniel Musk and the pilots he navigated in the storm, not a tech striker situation.

01:08 The impact on Tesla stock was swift as shares fell 45% in the first few months alone.

01:14 Eventually he did name a new CEO for the newly rebranded X, longtime ad executive Linda Iaccarino.

01:22 That paved the way for 2023 as Tesla was included in what most investors refer to as the "magnificent

01:28 seven," a collection of splashy pro-growth stocks that together account for nearly 30%

01:33 of the entire S&P 500.

01:37 As the magnificent seven goes, so too goes the market, and Tesla has significantly outperformed

01:42 the S&P up over 100% in 2023.

01:46 And that stock price success comes despite a mountain of self-inflicted controversies

01:51 by Musk himself.

01:52 The New York Times reported in March that Twitter's value had fallen from the $44 billion

01:57 Musk paid for it down to $20 billion.

02:00 Elon Musk then attacked the Anti-Defamation League and he was quickly accused of anti-Semitism

02:06 on the platform as well.

02:07 Although Tesla stock has undoubtedly been a leader in the S&P 500, it has had its dips.

02:14 After a lackluster earnings report in October, the stock fell more than 9% with Musk saying

02:19 that previously announced price cuts were ineffective with interest rates so high.

02:24 The company also saw deliveries fall by almost 7% from Q2 to Q3.

02:29 Tesla and the entire stock market rallied soon after during a dominant November.

02:35 Tesla has also modified the prices for its popular Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, further

02:41 solidifying its status as the top dog of U.S. EV manufacturing.

02:46 There's little doubt that despite a dizzying portfolio of companies under Elon Musk's reign,

02:51 Tesla will continue to be one of the most watched stocks in 2024.

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