Tesla stock rises 3% as poll calls for Elon Musk to exit Twitter CEO role
Scott Olson

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares benefited from a signal that Elon Musk may remove himself from the helm of Twitter (TWTR).
On Sunday evening, Musk initiated a poll that asked whether or not he should continue in his capacity as the head of Twitter (TWTR). He also promised to abide by the results of the poll. As of the pollâs close, 57.5% of voters did indeed call for him to step down. 
For Tesla (TSLA) investors that have been vocal about their displeasure with his Twitter leadership, this appeared to be a welcome sign. Indeed, Oppenheimer downgraded Tesla (TSLA) on Monday amid concerns that Twitter is an undue distraction for the Tesla CEO.
âWhile we continue to see Tesla evolving EV and autonomous technology in advance of peers and driving costs to levels those peers will struggle to matchâand have tried to separate Elon Muskâs non-Tesla endeavors (personal and professional) from our analysis on TSLAâwe believe Mr. Muskâs acquisition and subsequent management of Twitter now make that separation untenable,â they told clients on Monday. âThe combination of Twitter's unclear cash needs and diminishing options for Mr. Musk to serve those needs amid the broad public backlash driven by inconsistent standards application for Twitter users, notably banning select journalists, is pushing us to the sidelines on TSLA.â
The analysts noted that Muskâs banning of journalists and uneven application of his stated free speech principles is likely to alienate a significant consumer base for Tesla vehicles, namely those focused on climate issues. Overall, the firmâs analysts believe sentiment on Tesla has been âseverely damagedâ by Muskâs Twitter saga and this negative sentiment âcould linger long termâ and become a persistent overhang for Tesla. As such, they moved from Outperform to Neutral.
However, with Muskâs poll suggesting he will step away, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives took a more sanguine stance. He applauded the opportunity to âend this nightmareâ tenure as CEO of both companies. Ives estimates that Twitter is on track to lose âroughly $4B per yearâ and has been a major drag on Tesla and Musk as a result.
âMore red ink means funding gaps causing Musk to sell more Tesla stock which has been used as his own personal ATM machine since this saga began in April,â Ives explained. âAs such, this has been a black eye moment for Musk and been a major overhang on Tesla's stock which continues to suffer in a brutal way since the Twitter soap opera began with brand deterioration related to Musk a real issue.â
To be sure, it remains unclear to what extent Musk may be forced to continue funding the Twitter business, which Ives sees as an enterprise likely to continue bleeding cash. Just last week Musk disclosed the sale of $3.6B worth of Tesla shares despite promising that he was âdone sellingâ in August. Additionally, there is no clarity as of yet on the potential succession plan for Musk as he indicates his intention to step down. Nonetheless, Ives views the step away from Twitter as a step in the right direction for Tesla.
âMusk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk. Attention focused on Twitter instead of golden child Tesla has been another big issue for investors and likely is behind this poll results with many Musk loyalists wanting him to leave as CEO of Twitter,â he concluded. âWith the poll closing this morning, it appears Musk's reign as CEO of Twitter will come to end and thus be a major positive for Tesla's stock starting to slowly remove this albatross from the story.â
He retained his Buy-equivalent rating on the stock. Shares of the Austin-based automaker rose 3.1% as about 3M shares changed hands in premarket trading.
Read more on Muskâs pursuit of funding for Twitter.