Trump and Tesla shares soar as Republicans secure victory
Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group and Tesla soared in early trading on Wednesday as investors rallied behind stocks associated with newly elected US President Donald Trump and one of his key backers, Elon Musk.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), owner of the Truth Social platform, spiked as much as 35 per cent in pre-market, following news of Trump’s return to office, and 24 per cent when the opening bell rang in New York on Wednesday.
The stock, which has a market cap of around $6.8bn (£5.3bn), had plummeted to $12.15 per share in September in the lead-up to the election. However, shares have since rebounded to almost $34.
On Tuesday evening, TMTG reported a slight year-on-year dip in its third-quarter revenue of just over $1m. It also posted a $19.2m loss, although this was an improvement on the $26m deficit it reported for the same period last year.
Musk’s Tesla jumped by over 14 per cent at market open on Wednesday as investors raced to get behind the billionaire, who has been an outspoken supporter of Trump throughout his campaign. Shares in the electric car giant had rallied 15 per cent in pre-market trading,
“The people of America gave [Donald Trump] a crystal clear mandate for change tonight,” wrote the owner of Tesla on his X platform in a series of posts about Trump’s impending victory.
Tesla recently recorded its biggest single-day gain in over a decade, closing up nearly 22 per cent on NASDAQ. It came after the company posted a stronger than expected quarterly profit of $2.2bn (£1.82bn) for July to September, bouncing back after a string of disappointing quarters.
The rally extended to other US tech giants, with Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Alphabet all seeing pre-market gains, while Meta was the only major stock in the sector trading in the red.
However, analysts at Enders warned that America’s largest tech companies remain “vulnerable,” with $570bn in potential exposure linked to sales in China and reliance on the Chinese supply chain.
Trump’s administration is expected to impose sweeping tariffs on many imports, risking retaliatory moves from major trading partners, analysts explained.
They added that Apple and Tesla in particular face significant exposure in China, both as a major market and a manufacturing base. Anti-US sentiment could disrupt demand, and both companies have limited short-term options to diversify their supply chains.
In London, FTSE 100 index was up over 1.4 per cent in early trading, buoyed by a nearly six per cent rise for US-focused construction equipment rental group Ashtead, alongside gains for Barclays and IHG.