Shares of the electric automaker rose more than 6% to a two-year high of $315.56 after rising 19.3% through Thursday’s close. The company has crossed the $1 trillion valuation for the first time in two years.
The billionaire could push for favorable regulation of autonomous vehicles that Tesla plans and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to hold off on potential enforcement actions involving the safety of Tesla’s current driver-assistance system, a source told Reuters.
Musk has focused on self-driving vehicle technology, abandoning plans to build an economy car priced under $30,000. However, development and regulatory hurdles have delayed the commercialization of such technologies.
“Tesla and CEO Elon Musk are probably the biggest winners from the election result, and we believe a Trump victory will help speed regulatory approval of the company’s autonomous driving technology,” said Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research.
Tesla shares surged in late October after the company reported an increase in quarterly profit margins, buoyed by sales of highly profitable full self-driving driver assistance software.
It has been the world’s most valuable automaker for years, trailing Japan’s Toyota Motor, China’s BYD and others by several hundred billion dollars.
Tesla trades at 93.47 times its forward 12-month earnings estimate, compared with 38.57 for AI chip giant Nvidia, 30.77 for Microsoft and 6.29 for Ford.
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