Oppenheimer: Musk's political involvement may severely impact Tesla's autonomous driving rollout, potentially becoming a short-term catalyst for stock price

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Colin Rusch, a senior research analyst at the American investment bank Oppenheimer, recently stated that CEO Elon Musk's involvement in political affairs has caused some "profound and permanent" damage to the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. He said, "I think this has indeed caused some far-reaching and permanent harm. As to whether this will hinder the company's growth in the long term, there is currently no conclusion. I believe the market size is large enough, and the company still has room for growth, but this does limit the ultimate breadth and scale of its business. At one point, Tesla was widely respected and loved on both ends of the political spectrum, and I think that time is gone forever."

Meanwhile, Colin Rusch pointed out that Tesla (TSLA.US) plans to launch its autonomous vehicle in June, which will become the focus of investors' attention, and this event could play a decisive role in the company's stock price in the coming months. He believes that Tesla's future lies in "physical" artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology, and investors will consider the company's ability to achieve positive free cash flow as a key metric.

On May 30 local time, Musk's term as a "special government employee" ended. After spending over $290 million in last year's U.S. election and playing a significant role in Trump's victory, Musk led the newly established Government Efficiency Department in the new U.S. administration, which was created to "cut government spending and improve government efficiency."

However, according to data from the U.S. Government Efficiency Department's website, as of April 20, the department has saved approximately $160 billion for the federal government, which is less than one-fifth of Musk's previously announced goal of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending. Despite massive layoffs, agency shutdowns, contract reductions, and cuts to public services, spending under the current administration has actually increased compared to the same period last year.

It is worth mentioning that a week before Musk left the Government Efficiency Department, he expressed disappointment on a television program regarding the Trump administration's large spending bill that increased the budget deficit, stating that it undermined the work the Government Efficiency Department team was doing. Prior to this, Musk had also criticized the tariff policies implemented by the Trump administration, stating that he did not support actions that "distort the market." Analysts suggest that Musk's comments seem to indicate that his "honeymoon period" with Trump has come to an end