According to outspoken Tesla (TSLA) investor Ross Gerber, CEO Elon Musk seems more focused on his growing role in Donald Trump’s administration rather than on managing the electric vehicle maker. Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Gerber said, “I think Tesla shareholders are more than aware that their CEO works for Donald Trump at this point.” He also noted that although Musk is setting the company’s tone, he isn’t as hands-on as CEOs like Nvidia’s (NVDA) Jensen Huang.
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Instead, Musk is spending a significant amount of time at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort meeting world leaders and advising Trump, who recently appointed him head of the new Department of Government Efficiency. Despite Trump’s known skepticism of green energy, Tesla could benefit from Musk’s close ties to the administration. Tesla shares have surged 74% since Election Day, which far outpaced the S&P 500’s 5% gain.
Why Gerber Is Concerned
However, with Musk preoccupied, Gerber is concerned that Tesla’s new executive team needs to step up in 2025 to meet ambitious goals. Indeed, he believes that any failure to deliver on these expectations could put pressure on Tesla’s high valuation. Gerber, who was once a staunch Tesla supporter, has since reduced his firm’s holdings — AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki ETF (GK) — to under 2% due to valuation and leadership risks. Interestingly, he believes Tesla’s fair value is $200 per share, which is significantly below its current price.
Still, Wedbush’s 4.5-star analyst, Dan Ives, sees Tesla as leading the autonomous vehicle space and called it a trillion-dollar opportunity. As a result, he named the company his top pick for 2025. It’s worth noting that, so far, Ives has enjoyed a 63% success rate on TSLA stock, with an average return of 24.4% per rating.
Is Tesla Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 13 Buys, 11 Holds, and nine Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 70% rally in its share price over the past year, the average Tesla price target of $294.30 per share implies 30.2% downside risk.
