Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
AUSTIN, Texas — Tesla stock saw its biggest price jump since 2013 on Thursday with shares in the Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle company moving up 22% following a better-than-expected earnings report.
The stock rise pushed Musk's on-paper personal wealth up $26 billion, further cementing his status as the world's richest individual. Musk's real-time net worth as of midday Friday was just over $272 billion, according to tracking by Forbes. While most of his personal wealth comes from the nearly 13% of Tesla stock under his control, the tech entrepreneur owns over 40% of SpaceX, the space vehicle development company he founded in 2002 that's currently worth around $200 billion, as well as controlling interests in social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and artificial intelligence firm, xAI.
Late Wednesday, Tesla reported third-quarter earnings of 72 cents per share, outpacing analysts' average estimates of 58 cents. Tesla's overall revenues grew 8% in the quarter to $25.18 billion from $23.35 billion in the same period last year. Net income rose to about $2.17 billion from $1.85 billion a year ago. The positive financial report, along with Musk's comments about his expectation for a vibrant future for the company's plans for developing fully autonomous vehicles, helped drive the stock upswing.
Tesla's stock rebound follows an 18% dip earlier this month that was fueled by disappointing third-quarter vehicle delivery data as well as an unveiling of the new Tesla CyberCab vehicle that left market watchers and investors underwhelmed.
Tesla investors worry over Musk's activism
In spite of Thursday's value jump, some investors expressed concerns over Musk's public activities in support of former President Donald Trump's quest for a return to the Oval Office and potential impacts on Tesla's value moving forward. Musk endorsed Trump shortly after the July assassination attempt, has donated tens of millions of dollars to political action groups supporting the former president and even appeared with the GOP candidate at campaign events.
On a forum Tesla uses to solicit investor questions ahead of earnings calls, dozens of inquiries poured in from retail shareholders about Musk's political activities, his incendiary commentary on X, and his efforts to get Trump back in the White House, according to a report from CNBC.
"Elon Musk has the right to express his political views, but his public activism seems at odds with his responsibility as CEO to protect shareholder value," an anonymous retail investor wrote on the forum, per CNBC. "How does Tesla address this, and can it confirm Musk's actions are not harming sales or growth?"
Another investor asked if Tesla's board is doing anything to ensure Musk's "political engagement doesn't detract from Tesla's core mission and protects shareholder value and brand integrity."
CyberCab reveal falls flat
Earlier this month, Musk unveiled a new two-door electric vehicle dubbed Cybercab that is designed for fully autonomous operation, a feature most notable in the car's lack of steering wheel or pedals.
Those attending the private event also got a peek at a Tesla Robovan, another new model aiming for full autonomous driving and capable of carrying 20 passengers. Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, also made an appearance at the gathering, with a number of the android units mixing and serving drinks to guests, according to reports.
While the Cybercab and Robovan reveal featured the first new Tesla models since the Cybertruck came out in 2019, an event long on pomp and short on details, along with Musk's history of coming up short on promised innovation goals, soured investors in spite of his upbeat commentary. Tesla share prices dropped 8% on the day after the unveilings.
Musk has repeatedly missed deadlines he has publicized for technology advancements when it comes to Tesla vehicles. A report from CNBC notes a few of those misfires, including in 2015 when Musk told shareholders full autonomous driving was only three years away; in 2016 when Musk said a Tesla vehicle would be able to drive across the country without any human intervention by 2017; and in 2019 when the Tesla CEO said his company would have 1 million robotaxi-ready vehicles on the road in 2020.
"Tesla yet again claimed it is a year or two away from actual automated driving — just as the company has been claiming for a decade. Indeed, Tesla's whole event had a 2014 vibe, except that in 2014 there were no automated vehicles actually deployed on public roads," Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies automated vehicles, told the Associated Press in an email. "Now there are real AVs carrying real people on real roads, but none of those vehicles are Teslas. Tonight did not change this reality; it only made the irony more glaring."
While Tesla, which launched its first vehicle in 2008, has dominated U.S. electric vehicle sales for years, the company's market share has been in decline in the face of a growing slate of electric vehicle offerings by competitors. Tesla's share of the domestic EV market fell below 50% for the first time ever in the second quarter of this year, but sales remain well ahead of all other U.S. makers.
