Tesla’s Elon Musk ‘Soap Opera Must End,’ Wedbush Says

One of Wall Street’s longtime Tesla (TSLA) bulls is urging the company’s board to curb CEO Elon Musk’s political activity.

The “soap opera must end,” Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives wrote Tuesday, a day after Musk’s statements about starting a new political party sent shares tumbling nearly 7%.

“Shut up, Dan” Musk later posted on his social media platform X.

The analysts said Tesla can’t afford to have Musk’s time split during its current push into automation and robotics, nor can it afford making political enemies in the Trump administration while regulations about autonomous vehicle expansion are yet to be finalized. Musk left the Trump administration earlier this year, as analysts had called for the CEO to spend more time at his companies.

“In a nutshell, we believe this is a tipping point in the Tesla story and ultimately the Tesla Board needs to act now and set the ground rules for Musk going forward around his political ambitions and actions,” the analysts wrote.

Tesla shares ticked about 1% higher to just under $298 Tuesday, but have still lost over one-quarter of their value this year.

Wedbush Is Still More Bullish Than Most

Still, with a $500 price target and “outperform” rating for Tesla’s stock, Wedbush has the highest target of 18 analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Among them, nine give Tesla’s stock a “buy,” compared to five “hold” and four “sell” ratings, with a mean target of about $308.

Wedbush also suggested Tesla’s board redesign Musk’s next pay package, as his prior $56 billion deal is still in legal limbo, with three key priorities in mind: adding stock incentives to get Musk on the path to his goal of 25% voting control, establish time requirements for Musk to spend at Tesla, and give the board the ability to influence Musk’s political activity.

“The Board cannot control Musk’s donations,” the analysts wrote, “but they can have oversight if his political ambitions/endeavors interfere with his role as CEO of Tesla.”

Separately, analysts at JPMorgan said Monday they “continue to see risk” to Tesla’s full-year outlook and nearly $1 trillion valuation, after second-quarter deliveries last week came in better than feared, but continued to decline year-over-year.

This article has been updated since it was first published to include additional information and reflect more recent share price values.