Charged: Wall Street analysts downgrade Tesla after fallout with Trump

Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.

Confident Investing Starts Here:

• Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions
• Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter

From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla (TSLA), Wall Street’s newest darling Rivian (RIVN), traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM (GM) and Ford (F) to the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with “Charged,” a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.

WAR OF WORDS: Argus downgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Hold from Buy with no price target. The stock “appears to be currently trading on non-fundamental events,” says the firm, which is concerned that the “war of words” between President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, along with expiration of EV credits, could further weaken demand for new Teslas. While the firm believes AI-related projects such as Cybercab and Optimus are positive for the company and its valuation, it believes a near-term Hold rating is “prudent at this time.”

Baird also downgraded Tesla to Neutral from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $320. The stock’s strong performance following a “fundamentally poor quarter” has been partly a product of anticipation for the June launch of both a more affordable vehicle and robotaxi service, the firm tells investors in a research note. Baird believes Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s comments regarding the robotaxi ramp rate “are a bit too optimistic,” and that this excitement has been priced into shares. The firm also notes that Musk’s ties to President Trump “have added considerable uncertainty.” Baird sees Tesla as a core holding in the long term, but is stepping to the sidelines for now.

TRUMP-MUSK SPAT: Shares of Tesla fell 14% on Thursday as President Donald Trump threatened to pull government contracts for CEO Elon Musk’s companies. The stock started moving lower after President Trump said in Oval Office comments that he’s “very disappointed” in the company’s CEO Elon Musk. Musk only “developed the problem” with the tax bill when he learned of the electric vehicle mandate cut, Trump added.
Responding via X to Trump’s comments about Musk only not liking the tax bill when the electric vehicle was cut, Tesla CEO said, “Whatever. Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill. In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful….”

He also said, “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” The post is in response to President Trump saying, “I’m very disappointed with Elon. I’ve helped him a lot. He knew the innerworkings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut EV mandate.”

The feud seemed to escalate with Musk further stating via X that, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.” President Trump responded via Truth Social, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!…Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”

Musk responded to Trump’s allegations, calling them “such an obvious lie.”

President Trump has “no plans” to call Tesla CEO Elon Musk and has little interest in talking to his former adviser, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing comments from a senior White House official. The president is also considering selling or giving away his Tesla, according to the report.

Click here to check out Tesla’s recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.

DRONES: President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to “ensure continued American leadership in the development, commercialization, and export of unmanned aircraft systems – otherwise known as drones,” the White House announced. “The Order directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to expand drone operations by enabling routine “Beyond Visual Line of Sight” drone operations for commercial and public safety missions, and to accelerate the development, testing, and scaling of American drone technologies, including advanced air mobility and autonomous operations. The Order establishes an electric ‘Vertical Takeoff and Landing’ integration pilot program to accelerate the deployment of safe and lawful vertical operations in the United States, selecting at least five pilot projects to advance applications like cargo transport and medical response,” the White House stated. Companies working on drones or low-altitude urban aircraft known as eVTOLs include AeroVironment (AVAV), Joby Aviation (JOBY) and Archer Aviation (ACHR).

Disclaimer & Disclosure

Looking for a trading platform? Check out TipRanks' Best Online Brokers guide, and find the ideal broker for your trades.