Tesla rises on Trump's potential tariff leeway, Musk's 'hold' call

Tesla TSLA.O rises 4% to $258.70 premarket, after closing 5.3% higher on Friday

President Trump's administration is likely to exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs while applying reciprocal levies on April 2, according to media reports over the weekend

Sentiment is being lifted by "renewed hopes that Trump's looming reciprocal tariffs will be more focused and may limit further damage to Tesla's prospects," says Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown

On Thursday, CEO Elon Musk had urged employees to "hold onto your stock" and focused on previously promised products such as autonomous taxis and humanoid robots

YTD, TSLA down 38.4% amid rising competition, aging lineup, backlash against Musk's role in overseeing federal spending cuts

In comparison, automaker GM GM.N has fallen 6.5%, while Ford F.N has gained 2.6%

TSLA rated "buy" on avg; median PT is $335.38, per data compiled by LSEG