Mike Johnson is on the case.
The speaker of the House of Representatives (R-Louisiana) said Congress would probe “domestic terrorism” attacks on the Tesla brand after the company’s vehicles, dealerships and charging stations were targets of vandalism, arson and angry protesters.
“The heroic work of @elonmusk has so panicked the radical Left that they’re now calling him ‘racist'(?!) and engaging in domestic terrorism to attack Tesla owners and their vehicles!,” Johnson posted on X, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk owns.
“Congress will investigate the sources of these attacks and help the [Department of Justice] & FBI ensure those responsible are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump steps out of a Tesla Model S on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump calls Tesla CEO ‘a great patriot’
The hostility amped up after Musk began his work with the Department of Government Efficiency, which has resulted in mass firings and billions in canceled federal contracts.
President Donald Trump and Musk appeared on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11 along with five Teslas after Trump said he planned to buy one of the company’s electric vehicles to show his support for Musk.
“I think he’s been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people,” said Trump, according to USA Today. “And I just want people to know that he can’t be penalized for being a patriot. And he’s a great patriot.”
He added that anyone using violence against the carmaker would “go through hell.”
Critics voiced their displeasure with the display.
“Just because the corruption plays out in public doesn’t mean it’s not corruption,” wrote Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) on X, commenting on a post with a video of Trump getting into a red Tesla with Musk.
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Tesla shares have been feeling the political heat, as they are down nearly 40% year-to-date. The stock posted its steepest drop in five years on March 11 but was climbing 8.3% at last check.
Analysts have attributed the slump partly to Musk’s political activities and question whether those efforts are taking too much of his time away from Tesla and his other businesses.
Tesla has also been hit by poor sales in January and February, from Australia to Norway, partly due to Tesla factories preparing for a refreshed Model Y SUV and partly due to outrage over Musk’s politics. He has expressed support for a far-right party in Germany. Tesla’s Chinese shipments sank 49% in February.
Investment firms have been reviewing their price targets for Tesla shares in light of the protests.
Analyst: change in sentiment toward Tesla
JP Morgan analyst Ryan Brinkman on March 12 cut the firm’s price target on Tesla to $120 from $135, while maintaining an underweight rating on the shares.
The analyst said he was lowering the firm’s estimates due to a sharply lower outlook for deliveries, and likely pricing as well. He sees the public reacting to the brand in “myriad different ways.”
These include staging protests at Tesla stores, participating in sales boycotts, and jettisoning already purchased vehicles in the used market. Sentiment toward the Tesla brand has changed, coinciding with Musk’s relationship with Trump, the analyst said.
In light of the growing sharp reactions toward the brand, which could worsen the trend, Brinkman estimates Tesla Q1 deliveries at 355,000, which would be down 8% from the year-earlier quarter and down 28% from Q4 2024. The estimate also is 15% below the Bloomberg News analyst consensus for 418,000 deliveries.
Guggenheim analysts also lowered their price target on Tesla, to $170 from $175, and affirmed a sell rating on the shares. They moved after updating the firm’s delivery and margin forecasts to incorporate quarter-to-date data.
Related: Surprising China news sends Tesla’s stock reeling
The firm estimates Q1 deliveries at 358,000, down from their 405,000 prior view and “well below” the 420,000 they pegged as the current consensus forecast, the analyst tells investors.
On the other side of the argument, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull, said this was the start of the biggest innovation and technology cycle in Tesla’s history, lasting the next few years.
Ives, who maintained an outperform rating and $550 price target, said autonomous vehicles would be the biggest auto-industry transformation in modern history.
And “in our view Tesla will own the autonomous market in the US and globally,” he said.
“We continue to believe the best thing that ever happened to Musk/Tesla was Trump in the White House as this will create a deregulatory environment with a federal autonomous roadmap central to the Tesla strategic vision … although it feels awful today with the near-term pain.”
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