Shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX, Tesla Fall Premarket After Democrats Sweep Midterms
By Joe Stonor
Shares in Elon Musk-led SpaceX and Tesla fell sharply premarket after Democratic candidates swept the midterm elections, handing a defeat to Republicans backed by Musk to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
SpaceX shares were down 3.6% in premarket trade, while Tesla fell 3.5%.
The resounding Democratic victory came despite Musk's flurry of donations, and represents a defeat for the one-time member of the Trump administration.
Democratic control of Congress could derail a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla, XTB's Kathleen Brooks said.
"While Congress cannot stop a merger between SpaceX and Tesla, they could slow it down via extra scrutiny," Brooks said. "There is now a political risk premium attached to both Tesla and SpaceX that could weigh on their share prices."
Musk gave more than $250 million to Republican-aligned groups in the third quarter alone, according to campaign-finance filings reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. His political donations were concentrated in Texas, the center of his sprawling business empire. Voters in the Lone Star State elected James Talarico as their first Democratic senator since 1988, while ousting longtime Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Both SpaceX and Tesla are also vulnerable to broader weakness in artificial-intelligence stocks. However, despite earlier weakness, AI stocks were largely in the green in premarket trade, with Nasdaq futures last up 0.15%.
Write to Joe Stonor at josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 04, 2026 05:33 ET (10:33 GMT)
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