Tesla shares rallied early Friday after Donald Trump pledged to “buy a brand new Tesla,” offsetting a 15% drop tied to a 96% China export crash and Democratic backlash against CEO Elon Musk. UBS slashed delivery targets, citing weak demand signals.
Earlier today, Tesla experienced a major setback as the stock ended its normal trading session with a loss of almost fifteen percent. Still, the electric vehicle behemoth’s rescue is on the horizon, and it’s coming from an unexpected place.
The damage to Tesla’s reputation that Elon Musk’s contentious political views has caused has been relentlessly panned by Wall Street analysts for the past several days.
For example, a recent internal study by Stifel revealed that Republicans’ readiness to purchase a Tesla has “risen sharply,” while Democrats’ image of the company has hit “all-time lows.”
The electric vehicle (EV) behemoth is still under siege from China’s fantastic competitiveness, and this paradigm is quickly becoming a perfect storm for Tesla, as partisanship becomes an increasingly important component in the company’s sales calculations.
Per WCCFTECH, today’s terrible selloff was caused by Tesla’s declining exports of electric vehicles manufactured in China in February.
In case you were wondering, the electric vehicle behemoth exported a mere 3,900 EVs from China in February 2025, down from an astounding 30,200 in February 2024.
It appears that Elon Musk’s overt political stance is a drag on Tesla’s sales in China, since the Passenger Car Association of China has taken the unusual step of pointing this out.
However, as previously stated, it appears like Tesla’s rescue has come. In light of the increasing incidents targeting Tesla vehicles, which are being seen as a reaction against Elon Musk, President Trump has now decided to “buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning.”
Due to this demonstration of faith, Tesla shares are presently selling at $225 on Robinhood’s 24-hour trading platform, which is a gain of 1.28% compared to the regular trading session’s closing price of $222.15.
Remember that at the end of the extended trading session on Nasdaq, Tesla’s stock price was $215.01. The stock has recovered its about 3% loss from the after-hours trading session, according to this. But a lot of the loss from the regular trading session is still hanging over people’s heads.
The target price for Tesla shares at UBS has dropped to $225.
Luis Gochoco is a seasoned managing editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering politics, technology, gaming, and entertainment news. With a keen eye for breaking stories and in-depth analysis, he has established himself as a trusted voice in digital journalism. Luis is one of the key forces behind the success of GameNGuide, contributing to 12 million views through engaging and high-traffic content. He also played a pivotal role in generating 8 million views on International Business Times, shaping the platform’s technology and gaming coverage.
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