New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu defended his position on Wednesday that negative publicity surrounding CEO Elon Musk won’t harm Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the medium term.
What Happened: “Many question our view that ‘bad press’ related to Elon will not have a lasting influence on Tesla sales,” Ferragu wrote on X. “Elon’s antics are very unlikely to damage the brand medium term (and they definitely help awareness!!).”
The analyst shared data showing significant drops in Tesla’s brand perception during 2022, including a 21-point decline in March and a 17-point drop in November, coinciding with Musk’s Twitter acquisition. Despite these metrics, Tesla’s quarterly deliveries grew steadily from 185,000 in the first quarter of 2021 to 485,000 by the fourth quarter of 2023.
Ferragu’s optimistic assessment comes amid recent challenges for the automaker. Tesla reported approximately 337,000 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2025, falling short of analyst expectations across all major markets. The disappointing results sent shares tumbling before recovering Wednesday.
Why It Matters: Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the figures “a disaster for the bulls” while maintaining an Outperform rating with a $550 price target. “The more political he gets with DOGE, the more the brand suffers, there is no debate,” Ives said, referring to Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump‘s administration.
Tesla stock rebounded over 5% in regular session on Wednesday following a Politico report suggesting Musk might step back from his government position in the coming weeks. Musk dismissed the report as “fake news” on X, after which shares dipped 8.01% in after-hours trading.
The company’s stock has fallen as much as 33% since Trump’s January inauguration, with analysts attributing some decline to Musk’s political activities, including his reported $20 million investment to defeat a Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate and endorsements of far-right parties in Europe.
Price Action: Tesla closed at $282.76 on Wednesday, gaining 5.33% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock declined 8.01% to $260.12.
Tesla stock has outperformed rivals Nio Inc. (NYSE:NIO) and Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) but trails Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) in short- to long-term price trends, according to Benzinga Edge Stock Ranking. Sign up to learn more.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
