Tesla (TSLA) stock rose more than 12% in premarket trading on Wednesday morning as investors digested Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had been a heavy supporter of Trump’s campaign. Trump referenced Musk during his speech early Wednesday morning, calling him a “super genius.”
“We have to protect our geniuses,” Trump said. “We don’t have that many of them.”
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives pointed out that Trump could roll back the current electric vehicle tax incentives in place and be “an overall negative for the EV industry.” But given Tesla’s potential competitive advantage in the EV space, this could be a “huge positive” for Tesla.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched in the EV industry, and this dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players (BYD, Nio, etc.) from flooding the US market over the coming years,” Ives wrote in a Wednesday morning note.
Nio’s (NIO) stock fell 6% before the bell, while BYD (BYDDY) shares fell 3.8% in Hong Kong.
Ives added that a Trump win could also fast-track Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) initiatives.
“We believe a Trump win could add $40-$50 per share to Tesla’s stock and exceed $1 trillion in market cap if autonomous/FSD is accelerated starting in 2025 and a tailwind for Cybercab,” Ives wrote.