Tesla (TSLA) shares jumped as much as 8% in early Monday trading, erasing year-to-date losses and putting the stock back in positive territory for 2025. The rally came after CEO Elon Musk disclosed his first major purchase of Tesla stock since 2020 — a move worth roughly $1 billion.
According to a company filing, Musk bought 2.6 million shares on Friday. The purchase was widely interpreted by investors as a powerful show of confidence at a time when Tesla is leaning harder into its autonomous-technology ambitions, including robotaxis and humanoid robots.
Musk’s buying spree coincided with Tesla’s board floating a nearly $1 trillion compensation package for him. The ambitious 10-year plan ties Musk’s pay to aggressive growth targets, such as scaling the company’s robotaxi and humanoid divisions and lifting Tesla’s market capitalization from roughly $1 trillion today to an eye-popping $8.5 trillion in the future.
Monday’s rally also capped a remarkable comeback for Tesla shares, which had sunk to a March low after a high-profile spat between Musk and President Trump rattled investors. The fallout has since cooled, and Musk’s decision to formally step away from Washington and pause his third-party political ambitions has helped refocus attention on Tesla’s business. The stock is now up more than 70% from that March trough.
Despite competition from China’s BYD and the expiration of U.S. EV tax credits, Tesla is pressing ahead with its autonomous strategy. The company rolled out its first commercial robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June and plans to start testing in Nevada soon. Beyond self-driving cars, Musk has repeatedly touted the Optimus humanoid robot as Tesla’s next major growth engine — even predicting robots could one day account for 80% of the company’s value.
“Optimus is going to be the greatest product in the history of humanity,” Musk said earlier this month on the “All-In” podcast, envisioning a near future where Tesla robots help people with everything from cooking dinner to walking the dog.
Wall Street remains divided but increasingly intrigued. Of the analysts covering Tesla, 27 rate the stock a Buy, 19 a Hold, and five a Sell. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas recently reiterated his Overweight rating and $410 price target, calculating that converting just 1% of the U.S. labor force to humanoid robots could be worth about $320 billion — or $100 per Tesla share — in additional value.
As Tesla pivots from electric vehicles to autonomous technologies, Musk’s unexpected billion-dollar purchase has reignited investor excitement and sent a clear message: he’s still betting big on Tesla’s future.
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