For most of 2024, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) was not doing particularly well. Tesla stock spent the first half of the year trading sideways, and subsequently struggled to break through the $250 mark in a sustained manner.
All the while, longstanding concerns surrounding the electric vehicle (EV) company’s high valuation, CEO Elon Musk’s habit of overpromising and underdelivering, and increasing competition in key areas such as full self-driving (FSD) were shaking the confidence of Wall Street and investors alike.
The last quarter of 2024 proved to be a turning point, however. On October 23, the carmaker released an unexpectedly strong quarterly report. Then, in early November, Donald Trump, to whom Musk had donated and become increasingly close, won the U.S. presidential election.
Picks for you
In the ensuing rally, the price of TSLA stock increased from $242.84 to a new all-time high (ATH) of $479.86 on December 17. As impressive as that 97.6% surge was, it couldn’t last — by press time on February 12, 2025, Tesla shares were changing hands at a price of $324.41 — some 32.39% lower than the ATH. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, prices have decreased by 19.67%.
As much of a boon as Trump’s election has been (and most likely will continue to be) for Tesla, thus far, 2025 has not been kind to the innovative automaker. Let’s see exactly how much value Tesla stock has lost since the inauguration.
Tesla stock is down since Trump’s inauguration — but still up since his election
Trump’s inauguration took place on January 20 — and as it was the third Monday of January, it was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day — so the markets were closed.
With that in mind, we’ll be using the next-best reference point — the closing price of Tesla stock on January 17, the last trading day before the inauguration. That figure is $426.50 — accordingly, the price of TSLA shares has dropped by 23.93% since Trump became president.
Readers should note, however, that TSLA stock was trading at a price of $251.44 on November 5, when Trump was elected. Since then, they have seen a 29.02% increase in price.
Although Musk’s close relationship with the president is certainly a tailwind, the EV company had already been trading at a high valuation for years when that factor came into effect. Overall momentum has also swung from bullish to bearish.
Whereas Trump’s election coincided with an unexpected earnings beat for Tesla, the company’s latest earnings call, released on January 29, was a double miss. Both earnings per share (EPS) and revenues came in below analyst expectations. To boot, the Q4 of 2024 also marked the first time the automaker saw a year-over-year (YoY) decline in vehicle deliveries.
Wall Street remains quite divided — while some, like Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research, expect to see the price of Tesla stock crash in 2025, others, like Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) analyst Adam Jonas, still have high hopes that the company can secure a leading position in emerging sectors such as AI and robotics.
Featured image via Shutterstock
