If You Invested $1,000 In Tesla Stock When Tim Walz Criticized EV Company, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz‘s remarks about the declining price of Tesla Inc.TSLA stock aren't holding up so well two months later.

What Happened: In a March 18 speech, Walz poked fun at Tesla’s stock and CEO Elon Musk. The EV maker’s share price was plummeting at the time.

Walz said if he needs “a little boost” during the day, he will check the declining price of Tesla stock on his phone.

"$225 and dropping," Walz told a cheering crowd. The former Democratic vice presidential candidate added that he doesn't blame Tesla owners, who can “take dental floss” to remove the company logo.

Musk, a Republican mega-donor who reportedly contributed $290 million to help President Donald Trump win the 2024 election, took offense, calling Walz names like “jerk” and “creep” for getting joy from a dropping stock price.

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Investing $1,000 in Tesla Stock

Fast-forward two months from the date Walz commented about Tesla’s stock price being close to a six-month low.

Tesla’s share price is currently down roughly 9.5% year to date, but it has risen significantly and outperformed the market.

"Yo Timmy, how's your day bro?" Musk recently tweeted. His post included a picture of the Tesla stock chart and a clown emoji.

Tesla stock traded between $222.28 and $230.10 on March 18. A $1,000 investment at the highest price of the day would have been able to purchase 4.35 Tesla shares.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $1,495.62 today based on a price of $343.82 for Tesla stock. This represents a return of 49.6% over the last two months.

Compare that to the same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY over the same time horizon.

On March 18, a $1,000 investment could have purchased 1.77 SPY shares based on the day's highest price of $565.02 for the ETF.

The $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust would be worth $1,049.34 today based on a price of $592.85 at the time of writing. This represents a return of 4.9% over the last two months.

Over the years, many investors have tried to time a drop in Tesla stock to short it. Others have publicly criticized the company’s lofty valuation.

Walz’s criticism struck a chord with Kevin O'Leary. The "Shark Tank" investor highlighted that Minnesota's State Board of Investments owned Tesla stock in its retirement fund. This meant that Walz was rooting for a stock that Minnesota state residents counted as part of their retirement to fall in value.

"That poor guy didn't check his portfolio and his own pension plan for his state," O'Leary told CNN.

Walz later said he was making a joke about Tesla. "These people have no sense of humor," he added.

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Image: Midjourney