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Musk’s political activism either had a “negative” or “extremely negative” effect on Tesla’s business, according to 85% of respondents to an informal survey of nearly 250 Morgan Stanley clients. A clear majority also anticipate a second straight decline in annual deliveries to customers.
There is no doubt in the mind of Morgan Stanley clients: Elon Musk is damaging Tesla—potentially even severely—according to a snap poll.
To put this statement into proper context, it’s important to first note that when it comes to the EV manufacturer, lead Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas, who ran the poll, has an almost impeccable record as a bull.
If Musk has thought of something, Jonas can reliably be expected to promote it to clients. The Morgan Stanley banker once argued an AI training computer Tesla hoped to build called Dojo was worth half a trillion dollars, since other companies could buy time on it just as they do with Amazon AWS.
Jonas sometimes even promotes ideas Musk hasn’t floated: Last year he argued there was a chance Tesla would get into the smartphone business and compete with Apple.
In other words, the Morgan Stanley banker is not one predisposed to doubt Musk—nor for that matter would his client base, which trusts Jonas’s analysis.
It is that much more shocking then that an informal survey conducted by Jonas of those who regularly read his research came back with such a lopsided result.
In total, 45% of the 245 clients polled by the Morgan Stanley auto analyst responded by saying Musk’s political activism had a “negative” effect on Tesla’s business. More worrying for Tesla stockholders, another 40% believed the impact was “extremely negative.”
By comparison, 12% thought it was “insignificant,” while only 3% believed his efforts to help the Trump administration were “positive” for Tesla.
A clear majority of 59% also believed vehicle deliveries to customers would notch their second straight year of declines.
The figures were cited in a report by CNBC. Morgan Stanley did not respond by press time to Fortune’s request for comment.
Musk has had a difficult start to 2025, with Tesla stock losing more than half its value since its mid-December peak.
But the Tesla CEO hates losing and never goes down without a fight.
On Tuesday, Musk turned the White House lawn into a pop-up Tesla showroom while President Trump encouraged Americans to buy a Tesla.
It may be working, too, as Google Trends suggests there has since been an increase in internet searches for “Buy Tesla.”
