TSLA shares rise as Elon Musk raises prices, hires Twitter CEO

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• Tesla hikes prices across US models.
• CEO Elon Musk says he has hired a CEO for Twitter.
• The new Twitter CEO was not named but will allow Musk to refocus on Tesla.
• TSLA stock rises 1.5% in Friday premarket.

Never a shy one on the news front, Tesla (TSLA) stock is advancing in Friday’s premarket after the electric vehicle leader had two positive storylines appear in the past 24 hours. 

First, CEO Elon Musk said late Thursday that he had found a CEO for his social media site Twitter, which Tesla shareholders believe will allow the prodigious CEO to refocus his energy on Tesla. Second, Tesla raised prices slightly across its vehicle lineup in the US, which should help to steady the falling gross margin seen in  the recent quarter.

TSLA stock rose 1.5% to $174.69 in Friday’s premarket, while NASDAQ 100 futures added 0.2%.

Tesla Stock News: Second price hike since April 19

On Thursday, Tesla raised vehicle prices in the US by between 0.5% and 1.1%. The Model 3, which saw its price rise in early May, was the sole vehicle spared a price hike this week. 

The higher price point Model S and Model X both saw price tag increases of $1,000, while the lower-priced Model Y crossover bumped up by $250. Still, all three vehicles are well off their prices from 2022. Musk and company began severely cutting prices in January worldwide and instituted about six separate cuts in the US market. 

Despite the new price increases, the Model Y remains 23% cheaper than in late 2022. The price of the Model X is still 19% lower, while the Model S remains 16% lower over the same time period. The market pushed back during the most recent earnings call, when Musk announced that he favored the increase in volumes over healthy margins in the short term. 

“We’ve taken a view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here versus a lower volume and higher margin,” Musk said during the Q1 earnings call on April 19. “However, we expect our vehicles, over time, will be able to generate significant profit through autonomy.

Tesla’s automotive gross margin fell to 19% in the first quarter despite Wall Street’s expectation for 21%. Past years have seen gross margins up around 30% or just below.

Twitter News: Musk announces new CEO hire

Tesla shareholders have been annoyed with Musk since he bought Twitter for $44 billion last year. With much of his time spent on pushing the social media giant toward profitability, Musk’s tweet on Thursday that he had hired a CEO for Twitter who starts in 6 weeks gave many a sigh of relief:

Tesla shareholders may not want to get their hopes up though. Musk claims to be transitioning to chief technology officer, which would appear to be a demanding job in itself. 

Though there has not been any definitive news on the identity of the new CEO, the rumor mill is pointing to Linda Yaccarino, the current head of global advertising and partnerships at NBC Universal.

Tesla stock forecast

Tesla stock has used the premarket on Friday to move just above the recent swing high on May 8 of $173.80. That makes a jump back to $200 a real possibility over the next month. First, this rally will need to be confirmed by the 9-day moving average crossing above its 21-day counterpart. Currently, the 21-day average is nearly $3 ahead of the shorter moving average. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is showing a slight bullish crossover at the moment, so that is another data point in bulls’ quiver. TSLA stock last closed above $200 on March 31.

TSLA daily chart