Elon Musk during a news conference with President Donald Trump on May 30, 2025, inside the Oval Office (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

Tesla drops as Musk heads “exactly the opposite direction” from what investors want

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says Musk’s America Party will distract the Tesla CEO and put pressure on the stock price, which is already sinking in premarket trading.

Rani Molla

7/7/25 5:51AM

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives is not celebrating Elon Musk’s “America Party,” saying the move is a distraction from his job as CEO of Tesla, having recently returned to his work at the EV maker after his stint at DOGE.

“Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Ives wrote.

Musk’s escalation of his feud with President Trump could create more government roadblocks for the EV company as it tries to transition into an autonomous vehicle outfit, hurting the stock, the Tesla bull said.

“Tesla shares will likely be under some pressure tomorrow as investors worry about the implications if Trump and Republican party view Musk more as a foe than a friend now. With the autonomous future ahead and the AI Revolution in full force Musk/Tesla do not need to keep poking the bear as Trump can create more hurdles for Musk/Tesla/SpaceX over the coming years if this political battle gets nastier heading into mid-terms in 2026. Tesla needs Musk as CEO and its biggest asset and not heading down the political route yet again... while at the same time getting on Trump’s bad side.”

Trump responded Sunday to Musk’s proposed political group by saying third parties have “never succeeded” and calling Musk a “TRAIN WRECK.” He also criticized Musk’s choice of Jared Isaacman for NASA leadership as “inappropriate,” given their friendship, Musk’s conflicting interests as head of SpaceX, and Isaacman’s political donations to Democrats.

The stock was down as much as 7% in early trading on Monday. Ives maintained his firm’s “outperform” rating and $500 price target nonetheless.

Rani Molla18h

Palo Alto Networks surges after it beats revenue and earnings estimates

Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks jumped more than 10% in postmarket trading after reporting fiscal third-quarter results that beat analyst revenue and earnings expectations.

The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.85, versus the FactSet analyst consensus estimate of $0.79 on $3 billion in revenue. (Wall Street had expected $2.94 billion.)

The company also boosted its guidance for the full fiscal year. The company now expects non-GAAP EPS in the range of $3.77 to $3.79, compared to its previous projection of $3.65 to $3.70 (and analysts’ expectations of $3.68). It also forecast revenue of $11.415 billion to $11.425 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 24%, compared to previous growth expectations of 22% to 23%.

Through Tuesday’s close, the stock had risen more than 60% in the past month.

Jon Keegan18h

Microsoft releases 7 new models, next-gen quantum chip at Build conference

Microsoft is making it clear it can stand on its own as a competitor in the AI arena.

Today at its annual Microsoft Build developer conference, the company made a flurry of announcements that move it further away from the shadow of its complicated relationship with partner OpenAI.

Among the products announced:

New Nvidia-powered Windows PCs: the Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box.
Seven new homegrown AI models: MAI Image-2.5, MAI Image-2.5-Flash, MAIN Transcribe-1.5, MAI Thinking-1, MAI Voice-2, MAIN Voice-2-Flash, and MAI Code-1-Flash.
Majorana 2, the company’s next-gen quantum chip.
Microsoft Scout, an integrated always-on agent built on OpenClaw.
Project Solara, an AI gadget operating system.

Investors were unimpressed, however, as shares were down over 4% after the announcements.

PHASE 2: Noon - Microsoft Build 2026

New Nvidia-powered Windows PCs: the Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box.
Seven new homegrown AI models: MAI Image-2.5, MAI Image-2.5-Flash, MAIN Transcribe-1.5, MAI Thinking-1, MAI Voice-2, MAIN Voice-2-Flash, and MAI Code-1-Flash.
Majorana 2, the company’s next-gen quantum chip.
Microsoft Scout, an integrated always-on agent built on OpenClaw.
Project Solara, an AI gadget operating system.

Investors were unimpressed, however, as shares were down over 4% after the announcements.

Rani Molla6/2/26

Amazon’s Prime Day is coming early this year

Amazon is moving its four-day Prime Day event up from July, where it’s been for the last five years, to June 23 through 26.

The retail giant cites scheduling clashes with the FIFA World Cup and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence as reasons for the move. Prime Day is one of Amazon’s biggest sales events of the year, helping drive $24.1 billion in US online spending last year, according to Adobe Analytics.

More concretely, the move means Amazon will pull a massive chunk of sales from one of its biggest events into Q2, which ends June 30, rather than Q3.

Beyond the top-line revenue shift, Amazon is also using the event to flex its newer strategic muscles, aggressively cross-promoting its same-day grocery delivery networks and its Amazon Haul discount storefront.

Rani Molla6/2/26

Tesla’s China-made EV sales grew 39% in May, marking 7 straight months of growth

Sales of Tesla vehicles made at its Shanghai plant — produced for China, Europe, and other international markets — grew 39% in May to 85,982 vehicles, a record for the year.

The data marks the company’s seventh straight month of year-over-year wholesale growth for made-in-China vehicles and the company’s continued stabilization overseas. Across the entire Chinese auto industry, overall wholesale volume of so-called new energy vehicles — EVs and hybrids — produced domestically grew 12% from May 2025.

The China Passenger Car Association will report China-only sales later this month, offering a clearer picture of performance in Tesla’s second-largest market. On Monday, several European markets posted year-over-year sales growth for Tesla.

Tesla China May wholesale volume reaches 85,982 units, highest this year

Rani Molla6/1/26

Alphabet announces $80 billion equity raise to fund AI infrastructure, including a $10 billion bet from Berkshire Hathaway

To fund its rapidly expanding AI infrastructure push, Alphabet just announced a whopping $80 billion equity capital raise.

While concerns over share dilution sent the stock down slightly after-hours, the deal secured a major anchor partner: Berkshire Hathaway, which is backing the offering with a $10 billion investment. (Berkshire was run by Warren Buffett until he stepped down as CEO at the beginning of this year, handing the reins to Greg Abel.)

Alphabet plans to spend up to $190 billion on capex this year.