Tesla stock surges, turning positive year-to-date as Elon Musk buys $1 billion in shares

Updated Mon, Sep 15, 2025, 10:22 AM 2 min read

Tesla (TSLA) stock rose as much as 8% in early trading on Monday, wiping out its year-to-date losses after CEO Elon Musk purchased shares of the EV maker for the first time since 2020.

Tesla disclosed that Musk had made purchases on Friday of 2.6 million shares, worth roughly $1 billion. Investors saw the move as a strong vote of confidence in the company as it leans into autonomous technologies such as the robotaxi and humanoid robots.

The purchases came about a week after Tesla's board proposed a pay package for Musk worth almost $1 trillion. The compensation package lays out aggressive goals over a 10-year span, including the electric vehicle maker's robotaxi and humanoid robot businesses. The company also aims to lift its market cap to $8.5 trillion, from roughly $1 trillion today.

Tesla stock has made a full recovery since sinking to a March low in the aftermath of a public fallout between President Trump and Musk, which later cooled-off.

Tesla's robotaxi initiative and Musk's departure from politics has fueled shares of the company. The stock is up more than 70% since Musk officially left DC and subsequently paused on a proposal for a third political party in the US.

The billionaire's early participation in Trump's presidency appeared to hurt the company brand as electric vehicle sales plummeted in Europe.

Meanwhile, China's BYD (BYDDY) has eaten into the company's market share, and the expiration of EV tax credits in the United States has also weighed on the company's EV business.

The company has leaned into its robotaxi business, which launched for the first time in June in Austin, Texas, with plans to start testing in Nevada soon.

Beyond robotaxis, Musk has been touting Optimus humanoids as the next big major catalyst for growth.

Musk has said Tesla will eventually derive 80% of its value from robots that he says will be able to help humans in everyday tasks from cooking dinner to walking the dog and babysitting.

"Optimus is going to be the greatest product in the history of humanity," Musk said earlier this month in the "All-In" podcast.

Wall Street has 27 Buy ratings on Telsa stock, 19 Hold and 5 Sell.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas recently reiterated his Overweight recommendation on the stock and price target of $410 per share, based on how much of the global labor market could be replaced by humanoid robots.

“We estimate converting just 1% of the US labor force to humanoid is worth approximately $320bn or $100 per Tesla share,” Jonas wrote last week.