Tesla Shares Jump Nearly 15 Percent as Stocks Rally After Trump Win

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk awards Kristine Fishell with a $1 million check during the town hall at the Roxain Theater in Pittsburgh on Oct. 20, 2024. Musk donated more than $75 million to America PAC, which he co-founded with fellow Silicon Valley venture capitalists and tech businessmen to support Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump. Michael Swensen/Getty Images

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla surged following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, with some of the corporations registering abnormally big wins.

Tesla stock rose by 14.75 percent on Wednesday, becoming one of the top 10 gainers of the day in the S&P 500 index. Musk has been a strong Trump backer, throwing his support behind the Republican candidate days after the first failed assassination attempt against the 45th president in Butler, Pennsylvania. Between July and September, Musk donated almost $75 million to support Trump’s bid for the White House.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, which owns the Truth Social platform, went up by nearly 6 percent. The soon-to-be 47th president has a significant stake in the company. The stock is up by more than 106 percent so far this year. Trump’s net worth is now around $6.2 billion, according to data from Forbes.

The S&P 500 index jumped by 2.53 percent by the end of Wednesday. Sector-wise, financials were the biggest gainer, up by more than 6 percent. Industrial, energy, and consumer discretionary increased more than 3 percent. The technology and communication services sectors were up by more than 2 percent.

The top gainers of the day were Discover Financial Services, which jumped by 20.22 percent, followed by Synchrony Financial, tech company Trimble, steel manufacturer Nucor Corp., financial services entity KeyCorp, Capital One Financial Corp, Tesla, Citizens Financial Group Inc., Steel Dynamics, and Charles River Laboratories International.

All top 10 gainers saw their shares surge by more than 13 percent.

The shares of most tech corporations rose as well. Amazon saw a 3.8 percent hike, Nvidia increased by more than 4 percent, Microsoft 2.12 percent, Google owner Alphabet 4.04 percent, and Intel 7.41 percent. Apple and Meta bucked the trend, registering marginal declines.

Following his comeback victory, business leaders offered compliments to Trump.

“Congratulations to President-elect @realDonaldTrump on a hard-fought victory,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. “We look forward to working with you and your administration on issues important to our customers, employees, communities, and country.”

Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, suggested the Trump administration should “roll back burdensome regulations, unleash American energy security, power the economy of the future with an all-of-the-above energy strategy and restore the dignity of manufacturing work.”

Market Predictions on the New Trump Administration

A Nov.7 report by IG Bank suggested that a Republican-controlled house could mean “little resistance to Trump’s tax cuts and spending plans, along with his business-friendly deregulation approach.”

Upcoming announcements from the Trump administration are expected to be pro-business, focusing on deregulation, tax cuts, and fiscal spending, it said. Investor anticipation of fiscal plans will allow market sentiment to be buoyant.

The push toward deregulation should benefit energy, financials, and technology, the report noted, pointing to a similar pattern seen in Trump’s first term in office. The focus on “America First” and upcoming fiscal plans could benefit the industrial sector, it said.

“Overall year-end seasonality remains positive as well, while the run in US economic upside surprises and corporate earnings momentum may add further tailwind to the risk environment,” the report said.

JP Morgan noted in a report that the Republican win would mean that the “worst-case” scenario for the market—such as higher taxes on capital gains and tax exemption of municipal bond income—may have been avoided.

With regard to trade, the financial services company noted that Trump had proposed raising tariffs on Chinese goods by 60 percent and all other imports by 10 percent.

“While higher tariffs on China seem likely, the broad tariffs on all trading partners face much higher legal hurdles,” it said.

Morgan Stanley said that the 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods “could raise inflation and weigh on U.S. economic growth.”

On the plus side, the Trump administration’s efforts at deregulation can benefit oil and natural gas producers, it noted.

“For example, Trump is likely to lift a Biden administration pause on new natural-gas permitting approvals, accelerate approval timelines, and create an easier permitting process,” it said.

Financial services, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology are other sectors that could likely benefit from deregulation.