Tesla just had its best month since the election

The stock is riding high on analyst upgrades and big expected third-quarter sales.

9/29/25 8:09AM

Updated 9/30/25 4:25PM

November 2024 was a great month for Tesla. Its CEO threw his chips in for the winning presidential candidate, who was expected to slash federal red tape for Tesla’s white whale: self-driving cars.

September 2025 was nearly as good — at least in terms of the stock price’s increase from the month before.

Tesla closed at $444, 34% higher than it ended August. Tesla ended last November 38% higher than the month before, at $345. The company’s shares then hit an all-time high in December 2024 before a combination of falling sales and a fallout with President Trump, among other headwinds, sent the stock down. Tesla only went positive for the year earlier this month.

Lately, Tesla has been riding high on a series of analyst upgrades touting the company’s AI and autonomous ambitions. Last week, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives raised his price target for Tesla to a Wall Street high of $600, forecasting a $1 trillion “AI and autonomous opportunity.”

The company is also, for the first time in a while, selling a lot of regular vehicles, which make up the lion’s share of its existing revenue. That part is a bit bittersweet, since the reason for the rise ends tomorrow. Electric vehicles in general are flying off lots in the US, with record sales expected this quarter as would-be buyers pull forward purchases to take advantage of the $7,500 federal tax credits, which end tomorrow. Of course, that suggests sales will fall off in subsequent quarters. Still, it’s good news now for Tesla, which some analysts predict will have a record quarter that could push the stock even higher.

We’ll know for sure later this week, when Tesla discloses third-quarter delivery numbers.

Update (September 30, 4:00 p.m. ET): Piece has been updated to confirm Tesla did notch its best month since November 2024.

Rani Molla17h

Musk wants Tesla’s Optimus to get in and out of the Cybercab to deliver packages

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos seem to be competing on nearly every level. Both have media companies, both have space companies, and both helm private AI companies. Now it seems their giant public tech companies are slated to go head to head.

Musk has told his teams working on the Optimus robot that he wants it to be able to get in and out of the company’s Cybercab to make deliveries, according to a report by The Information. Amazon, of course, has also been amping up its use of robots, eventually planning to have them deliver its e-commerce packages.

The Optimus and Cybercab are supposed to go into production next year.

How Musk Could Tie Together Tesla and xAI

The Optimus and Cybercab are supposed to go into production next year.

Rani Molla19h

Elon Musk runs an AI startup — now, so does Jeff Bezos, as he launches Project Prometheus

Jeff Bezos, the third-richest man in the world and the founder of Amazon, a company increasingly focused on AI, has created a new AI startup of which he will be co-CEO, according to The New York Times. The new venture, Project Prometheus, aims to use AI to engineer and manufacture automobiles and spacecraft. It also sounds quite a bit like Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI.

Musk, the richest man in the world and the CEO of Tesla, a company increasingly focused on AI, also leads his AI startup and is progressively working on integrating its technology into his vehicle and space companies.

Musk’s space company is SpaceX, while Bezos’ is called Blue Origin. Musk owns social media company X, formerly Twitter, which is now part of xAI. Bezos owns media company The Washington Post. Bezos also has invested in an EV company, Slate Auto, which some see as a “Tesla killer.” Got it?

In other words, Bezos and Musk remain engaged in a billionaire version of “keeping up with the Joneses.”

Rani Molla20h

FT says Apple’s CEO could step down as soon as 2026, Bloomberg disagrees

Late Friday, the Financial Times reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook, a 65-year-old who’s led the company for nearly 15 years, could be stepping down as early as next year. On Saturday, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, whose Apple reporting is considered gospel by many, pooh-poohed that timeline, saying that while Apple is readying succession plans, “I don’t get the sense anything is imminent as the @FT is claiming.”

Both the FT and Bloomberg have reported that Apple’s hardware chief, John Ternus, is likely next in line.

The stock is down about 1% premarket, as investors contemplate what Apple, which recently posted a superlative Q4 earnings report, would be like without its longtime supply chain guru.

Rani Molla

Keeping an AI out

11/14/25

Apple’s limited AI exposure is paying off again

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta are negative this month.

Rani Molla11/14/25

Tesla is back in the negative this year

After falling more than 6% yesterday in its biggest drop since July, Tesla is once again in negative territory for the year. Elon Musk’s company posted record earnings last month, buoyed by pulled-forward demand tied to the final quarter of US federal EV tax credits, but its margins slipped as steep discounts were used to clear inventory.

Now the stock, which only turned positive for the year in September, is under renewed pressure amid a broader tech and AI sell-off, as investors grow concerned that the Federal Reserve may pause its rate-cutting cycle. Adding to the drag are soft sales in Tesla’s second-largest market, China, and news that longtime bull Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest unloaded roughly $30 million in shares this week.