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Wedbush managing director and senior equity analyst Dan Ives — who has remained bullish on Tesla (TSLA) — made headlines this week by saying that Tesla CEO Elon Musk "needs to change course" and re-balance his commitments to the EV maker over his position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration.
Ives sits down with the Market Domination team to react to Musk's leadership at an all-hands meeting on Thursday, where he implored Tesla employees to "hang onto" and hold off on selling their stock.
After President Trump's endorsement of Tesla on the White House lawn last week, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick urged viewers to purchase Tesla stock in a recent interview with Fox News.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here.
Elon Musk holding that all hands meeting on X last night, Musk hoping to reassure investors after what's been a tumultuous start to the year for Tesla.
So, it's very difficult for like, you know, people in the stock market, especially those that look in the rearview mirror, um, which is most people, um, to imagine a future where suddenly a 10 million vehicle fleet has five to 10 times the usefulness. So, what I'm saying is, hang on to your stock.
All right. For more now, we're bringing in Dan Ives, managing director and global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities. Dan, it is always good to see you. So, Musk does have this all hands meeting. You tell your clients, Dan, in this new note you say, this was Musk taking a big step forward with this meeting. How come, Dan? Why why do you think of this as a big step forward?
Yeah, and John, I mean, we talked about yesterday, you know, obviously in the morning, it was time for him to step up. In other words, you got, leaders lead. And during this period, he needs to lead as a CEO of Tesla. And now, I think that's been part of the frustration. But I thought last night was a huge step forward in terms of this quickly put together all hands meeting because it's showing, look, it's showing employees, shareholders, what's the vision medium and long term that continues to really be the golden goose? And I think it was an important first step into ultimately more of a balancing act from Musk.
I I don't know, Dan, and then and then he got right back on a plane and went back to DC. You know, I I don't know why him why him talking in front of his employees is such an important step. And I I mean, is it going to keep people from not buying Teslas?
Yeah, I mean, Julie, my view is it's a first step. In other words, the whole goal here is I'm not saying and the the many shareholders for him to indulge. It's about a balancing act. It's about
So what else, now? So what if that's the first step, what are the other steps? What now needs to happen?
is that he needs to be more engaged with Tesla. He ultimately need even when it comes to, whether it's, you know, very similar to, you know, how Windows stepped in in terms of at X, it's making sure that he is not front and center five times an hour when it comes to, right? I think that, you know, you talk about the political firestorm and everything else, the lightning rod. I think part of navigating that, it's that balancing act. He's look, he's going to get criticism, okay? And we understand that. That doesn't necessarily change the brand itself. If he starts to take a step back, that's what I think is brand damage. It's a it's a scar. It's a bad bruise, but it's not a permanent black eye.
