Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives remains highly bullish on Tesla (TSLA) stock despite the concerns surrounding CEO Elon Musk’s divided attention to DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Ives endorsed his support for Tesla and Musk in an X post yesterday, saying that he believes “bark way worse than bite in terms of brand issue.” Ives maintained a Buy rating and a Street-High price target of $550 (63.4% upside) on TSLA stock.
Maximize Your Portfolio with Data Driven Insights:
- Leverage the power of TipRanks' Smart Score, a data-driven tool to help you uncover top performing stocks and make informed investment decisions.
- Monitor your stock picks and compare them to top Wall Street Analysts' recommendations with Your Smart Portfolio
Tesla stock has dropped 16.7% so far in 2025, owing to analysts’ and investors’ concerns about Musk’s political involvement and deteriorating popularity. The steep stock price decline has made the EV (electric vehicle) maker the worst performing stocks among its Magnificent 7 peers and also one of the biggest losers on the S&P 500 index (SPX).
Here’s What Happened
Fox Business Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino posted on X yesterday that Musk plans to dedicate a lot of time to DOGE in the next four months. Musk’s aim is to cut roughly $2 trillion from the budget through DOGE, which will also help bring down the inflation to 2%. Gasparino added that Musk is working so hard that he ends up sleeping in his DOGE office at the White House.
These remarks were enough to spark a string of unfavorable comments on Musk and how his political inclinations were steering him away from his businesses. This has supposedly led to Tesla’s “brand deterioration.” Investors and consumers are already unhappy that Musk has chosen governmental responsibilities because this leaves less time for the CEO to give attention to Tesla’s operations. Tesla has also been losing market share in Europe’s major markets owing to consumer discontent.
If Musk continues to give more time to his political ambitions, it could further deteriorate Tesla’s standing in the EV market. Telsa is losing market share to Chinese EV giant BYD (BYDDF) in one of its largest EV markets.
Ives’ Steadfast Belief in Musk and Tesla
Despite the current chaos, Ives believes that Musk’s close ties with President Donald Trump and political involvement would prove to be beneficial for Tesla in the long run. The five-star analyst has full faith in Tesla’s autonomous vehicle future, accompanied by favorable policies under Trump’s administration. These catalysts could easily unlock $1 trillion of further valuation for Tesla in the coming years, Ives added.
Importantly, Ives reiterated the potential catalysts for Tesla that are bound to make the EV company much larger in the coming years. Let’s quickly look at the catalysts below:
- Mass market launch of affordable EV lineup this year
- Product development in autonomous vehicles and full self-driving (FSD)
- Future potential of humanoid robots, Optimus
Is Tesla Stock a Buy or Sell?
Not all analysts share the same enthusiasm for Tesla stock as Ives. On TipRanks, TSLA stock has a Hold consensus rating based on 13 Buys, 12 Holds, and 10 Sell ratings. Also, the average Tesla price target of $340.50 implies 1.2% upside potential from current levels. In the past year, Tesla stock has gained 82.9%.
