A Tesla car dealership stands on June 5, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Tesla shares climbed in U.S. premarket trading Friday after tensions between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump fueled a $152 billion rout for the stock a day earlier.
Shares of Tesla were up 5.1% in premarket trading as of 5 a.m. ET.
Musk and Trump have come to verbal blows in recent days as the Tesla chief’s tenure as head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency came to an end last week.
Trump initially praised Musk’s handling of DOGE, an initiative started by the Trump administration that aimed to cut costs within the federal government. However, he changed his tone on Thursday after comments from Musk criticizing Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill,” a sweeping package of tax and public spending cuts.
Musk slammed the bill on Thursday calling it a “disgusting abomination” — to which Trump replied that though he and Elon “had a great relationship,” he doesn’t know “if we will anymore.”
Tesla shares tanked 14% following the public clash, wiping $152 billion from the electric vehicle maker’s market capitalization and putting it below the $1 trillion benchmark.
“This situation between Musk and Trump could start to settle down and the friendship continues but this must start to be calmed down on the Musk and Trump fronts and it’s not good for either side,” wrote Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives in a research note Thursday.
“This feud does not change our bullish view of Tesla and the autonomous view but clearly does put a fly in the ointment of the Trump regulatory framework going forward,” he added.
