Tesla's Self-Inflicted Crisis of Confidence

Investors wanted Elon Musk to double down on EVs. Instead, they got a new political party and another reason to sell the stock.

Musk vs Trump: A Fight Investors Didn’t Ask For

Tesla’s latest sell-off has little to do with earnings or electric vehicles. Shares dropped 6.8% on Monday after Elon Musk announced plans to launch a new US political party, escalating his feud with Donald Trump and reigniting investor concerns about distraction at the top.

The fallout from Musk’s political re-entry has been swift. Tesla’s valuation has lost over $200 billion since late May, when Musk’s role in Trump’s short-lived government efficiency task force came to an end. His renewed focus on political activism contradicts April’s pledge to spend “far more” time on Tesla, and comes at a moment when the business is already under pressure from slowing EV sales and collapsing regulatory tailwinds.

Politics, Profits and a Shrinking Mandate

Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” is slashing support for electric vehicles across the board. Gone is the $7,500 federal tax credit, set to expire in September. Gone too are the emissions penalties that allowed Tesla to bank billions in regulatory credits from legacy automakers. William Blair analysts estimate that over $2 billion in high-margin profit is now at risk.

The political clash is getting personal. Trump has mocked Musk’s behaviour as a “train wreck”, suggested deportation, and floated nationalising SpaceX. Investors, meanwhile, are left questioning whether Musk’s growing list of battles is starting to erode Tesla’s long-term advantage. The distraction risk is real, and the market is responding.

Technical Breakdown: Key Levels in Play

Tesla’s share price has woefully underperformed this year. The stock is down 22% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is up 6%. Recent price action highlights just how vulnerable Tesla has become to the political whims of its CEO. The public fallout with Trump helped define a new swing high in May, which now acts as clear resistance. A new swing low was formed in early June, and that is now the short-term level bulls need to defend.

Adding Keltner Channels to the chart puts the recent volatility into perspective. The sideways bands and price bouncing between them show a market stuck in broad equilibrium. There’s little directional conviction, but that may be changing. Monday’s sell-off pushed Tesla below the volume-weighted average price anchored to the April lows. If the shares remain below this VWAP and break under the June swing lows, it would confirm the attempted recovery has failed and signal that the bears are back in control.

For now, Tesla isn’t trading like a high-growth innovator. It’s trading like a politically charged meme stock with no clear trend and no adult supervision.

Tesla (TSLA) Daily Candle Chart

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