Elon Musk is backing away from some of what he said about Trump last week."I regret some of my posts," Musk wrote on X. "They went too far."Trump later told a reporter that it was "very nice" of Musk to say that.

Three good things happened to Tesla last week, and Wall Street missed them. The electric-vehicle company’s CEO, Elon Musk, took a bold — and brilliant — step toward “de-Trumping” the brand. President Donald Trump then wrapped himself up in a First Amendment nightmare by threatening to take away Musk’s federal government contracts as direct punishment for Musk’s political comments. (That surely, even these days, crosses a line — if constitutional lines exist at all.)  Oh, yeah, and the stock got cheaper. Whether these three things are enough to make Tesla’s stock a buy at today’s lofty levels — or even to save the brand itself — is another matter. Call me skeptical but ultimately agnostic. Only time will tell. The row between the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful erupted in full public view last week and grabbed headlines in America and around the world. The most sensational moment, of course, was when Musk accused Trump of withholding from public view the government’s files on financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because the president was implicated in them, an accusation Musk made without offering any evidence. The media, as ever, let itself be played like a banjo, taking the row at face value and playing it up massively. Yes, it’s always possible that two cynical, highly experienced marketing geniuses — one in his 70s, the other in his 50s — suddenly and genuinely had a public falling out so fast and complete it would embarrass a pair of toddlers. It’s also possible that two men who have a history of playing the public are … er … playing the public. Either way, Musk has embarked on one bold move in distancing himself — and thereby Tesla — from Trump and the MAGA brand. We can’t know for certain whether, or to what degree, he achieved that. But I’m willing to bet fewer people see Musk merely as Trump’s poodle today compared with a week or two ago. That’s fast work. But, then, nothing grabs the public eye like public fireworks. Accusing the president of the United States of consorting with a pedophile and covering it up gets you a lot more coverage than sitting down for an hourlong interview about robotaxis with Maria Bartiromo. Musk had to do something. His bromance with Trump over the past year has been terrible for the Tesla brand. Two-thirds of Americans told one pollster they wouldn’t buy a Tesla. (The numbers in parts of Europe, a big market for electric cars, are even worse.) A new survey found that Tesla ranked worst for “net favorability” among electric-vehicle brands and that 38% of potential customers viewed the company negatively, compared with 29% who viewed it positively — a net balance of minus-9. Meanwhile, industry giants like Honda and Toyota had net balances in the 40s. Furthermore, the survey found that people didn’t just have negative views about Tesla; they also felt strongly about it.  The survey was conducted by Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report, a new publication with private backers. (This raises questions about its agenda, although the head of research, pollster Evan Roth Smith, is well-known.) Another survey found that about 40% of Tesla owners in the U.S. say their car has been vandalized, and a third are thinking of getting rid of the vehicle. Meanwhile Tesla’s board of directors has received a letter from institutional investors that was so angry and excoriating that in many other eras those directors might have resigned in shame. Instead they seem to be cashing in stock and options. Verity Data, a financial-information service that tracks the filings, calculates that Tesla’s directors have in total sold stock with a value of $672 million since last November’s presidential election. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Tesla’s stock has recently been getting crushed by Chinese rival BYD, aka “Build Your Dreams,” which is the world’s largest EV manufacturer. BYD is listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, but you can buy the shares via American depositary receipts traded in the U.S. under the ticker symbol If you’d invested your money in BYD at the start of this year, you’d now have about twice as much money as if you’d invested in Tesla. (Yes, really. BYD is up 49%, while Tesla is down 24%.) BYD’s stock, in fact, has been outperforming Tesla since Musk jumped on the MAGA bandwagon last year. Make of that what you will. Tesla’s stock fell as much as 18% last week amid all the turmoil, though it has since reclaimed about half those losses. It’s down a third since peak MAGA euphoria last fall, after Trump’s election victory. But even at $315 a share, the company is valued at just over $1 trillion, an eye-watering 130 times forecast earnings for the next 12 months. BYD, with much higher EV sales, is valued at just $84 billion — one-twelfth as much as Tesla or a mere 18 times forecast earnings. You make the call.

Musk’s rare public expression of regret suggests he is trying to defuse tensions after Trump threatened to retaliate against his companies during their feud.

Elon Musk reportedly called President Donald Trump days before tweeting his regret of their escalating feud. In this file photo, Musk, left, and Trump attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) AP

"We had a good relationship, and I just wish him well. Very well, actually," Trump said of Musk.

As Elon Musk’s fortune plunged by $36 billion last week and Tesla Inc.’s stock suffered a brutal drubbing, his most ardent backers rushed in to buy the dip — with leverage.

President Donald Trump told NBC News that he does not plan to talk to Elon Musk in the near future, adding that he has "no reason to" repair the relationship.

Baird downgraded shares of Tesla from "Buy" to "Neutral," saying the Musk-Trump spat has led to more uncertainty and the potential for brand damage.