The stock got a fresh boost on Friday as the US Department of Transportation announced looser rules for self-driving cars.

During an April 22 earnings call for Tesla, Elon Musk announced that he would reduce his hours with DOGE, starting next month, to focus on his role as Tesla's CEO. This announcement came a week after the White House press secretary fired back at claims on X, formerly Twitter, that Musk was leaving his position in the coming weeks.

Even the perma-bull crowd of analysts covering Tesla warned of sorely disappointing results in Q1, a view signaled by the poor deliveries for the quarter reported in early April. But the numbers released after the market close on April 22 were much,