Tesla releases encouraging EV data and prospects of Elon Musk acquiring TikTok
Tesla (TSLA) shares rose more than 3% on Tuesday after upbeat global electric vehicle sales data and media reports that Chinese authorities may allow the electric car giant CEO Elon Musk to acquire social media platform TikTok Business in the United States.
The sale would be part of contingency planning as a deadline looms for platforms owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest or face a U.S. ban. Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese officials have discussed the option of selling TikTok’s U.S. unit to Musk, who is also the CEO of X (formerly Twitter).
A TikTok spokesperson responded to the Bloomberg report, saying, “We cannot be expected to comment on matters that are pure fiction.”
As of 10:43:08 AM ET. The market is open.
Tesla shares extended gains since Monday, with the stock turning positive in afternoon trading and closing up more than 2%.
Research firm Rho Motion reported that global sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose 25.6% year-on-year to 1.9 million units in December.
Although sales slowed for the second consecutive month, sales reached a record high of 17.1 million units in 2024.
Overall, Wall Street has been focusing on Elon Musk's influence at multiple companies and data collection in everything from electric vehicles to satellites to social media.
On Monday, Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas issued a report on Tesla, making a bull case for $800 per share while putting the stock's 12-month price The price target was raised to $430 from $400.
“We believe Tesla’s recent stock price gains have begun to offset Tesla’s growing ‘surface area’ with physical AI, including the company’s interests in data collection, robotics, energy storage, AI/computing, manufacturing and supporting Natural advantages in infrastructure – including the benefits of working at Elon Musk’s other companies (SpaceX, xAI, etc.),” Jonas wrote.
Tesla stock has been a proxy for the “Trump trade” since the presidential election in early November. Shares have risen about 65% since Donald Trump entered the White House.
Stocks have been moving this week in a reversal of recent trends, with investors fleeing technology stocks in response to fading expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
Tesla shares are down about 13% from their all-time high of $479.86, which closed on December 17.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X: @ines_ferre.
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