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Rani Molla

Analyst: Brand damage from DOGE could create “15%-20% permanent demand destruction” at Tesla

Elon Musk has got to go... back to Tesla full time and leave the government, says Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. That means stepping back from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency before the dents done to Musk’s electric car company become a full-on wreck.

“...if Musk leaves the White House there will be permanent brand damage... but Tesla will have its most important asset and strategic thinker back as full time CEO to drive the vision and the long term story will not be altered,” the Tesla bull wrote in a note Sunday, ahead of the EV company’s earnings call this week. “IF Musk chooses to stay with the Trump White House it could change the future of Tesla/brand damage will grow.”

Already, Ives blames Musk’s role at DOGE for making Tesla a “political symbol globally of the Trump Administration/DOGE,” which has played a role in crushing the stock and causing a “terrible 1Q delivery number with much lower 2025 deliveries on the horizon,” potentially creating “15%-20% permanent demand destruction for future Tesla buyers.”

Don’t believe him? Check out these satellite images with rows and rows of the giant stainless steel Cybertrucks languishing outside their factory in Texas.

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Rani Molla

Analysts lower Meta price targets after social media giant says AI capex will keep climbing

Meta may have posted record revenue Wednesday but the stock is deeply in the red in the wake of its third-quarter earnings report, after the social media company said that its capital expenditure on AI would continue to rise.

The earnings prompted a number of analysts to lower their price targets or downgrade the stock.

RBC Capital lowered its price target to $810 from $840. Bank of America Securities lowered its price target to $810 from $900. Barclays, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Wells Fargo also lowered their price targets on the company.

Earlier today, Benchmark downgraded its rating to a “hold” from a “buy.” Oppenheimer downgraded the company to “perform” from “outperform,” saying the “significant investment in Superintelligence despite unknown revenue opportunity mirrors 2021/2022 Metaverse spending.” Ouch.

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Capex marks the spot
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Big Tech capex approaches $100 billion and Dan Ives loves it

AI spending shows no signs of flagging.

Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon capex
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Apples to apples
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Apple is becoming more of a services company and less a product company

Apple reports earnings Thursday.

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Meta Fiscal
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Meta is diving because it’s not Google or Microsoft

The stock is down more than 8% as investors question the social media company’s attempt to spend like the cloud companies.

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Meta posts record revenue but misses on earnings

Meta fell after reporting earnings Wednesday evening, as capex spending and operating expenses rise.

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