Tesla (TSLA) stock gains as Musk's Twitter poll suggests he may step down as CEO

(Updated - December 19, 2022 6:35 AM EST)

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are up more than 4% in pre-market Monday after CEO Elon Musk conducted a Twitter poll, asking more than 120 million followers if he should step down as CEO of the social media business.

With over 17 million Twitter users casting their votes, most respondents (57.5%) called for Musk to step down. The billionaire said he would abide by the results of the poll.

“As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it,” Musk tweeted later.

Last month, Musk said he expects to reduce time at the helm of Twitter and “find somebody else” to run the social media company.

“I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time.”

“The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive,” Musk also tweeted.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said that it appears Musk's reign as Twitter CEO "will come to an end." He sees it as a "major positive for Tesla's stock starting to slowly remove this albatross from the story."

"We maintain our OUTPERFORM rating and ultimately view this as a major step forward with Musk finally reading the room that has been growing frustration around this Twitter nightmare that grows worse by the day," Ives wrote in a note.

Tesla stock dropped over 16% lower last week, closing below the 200 weekly moving average. Shares are down nearly 23% month-to-date amid fears that Musk is focusing too much on Twitter. As a result, Tesla stock is trading at the lowest levels since November 2020.

Musk disclosed last week that he sold a further 22 million shares of the electric vehicle (EV) maker, worth $3.6 billion.

By Senad Karaahmetovic

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